fantastic isn`t it? definitely not what we see each and every day getting our arses from our coffin beds
Maybe British people have innovated a lot of things, but most inventions actually come from ancient China: soccer, ice cream, iron casting, compass, pizza, paper, golf, mass production, math, bureaucratic system, banking, currency notes, animation, crossbow, printing, guns (yes, it came from China), machinery, rockets, alcoholic drinks (beers), sausage, etc.... Maybe you have never watched History TV cable channel.
In terms of internation patent filings, the British aren't even close. The US is the top country in 2010, and each of the last 5 years according to this report. The US dwarfs the British in patent filings, nearly 10 times as many. The British are Number 7 on the list. Here's the link: http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2011/article_0004.html