I've typically thought of Great Britain as being, relative to the US, very progressive in the spirit of other typical European social democracies. However their government often surprises me with some of the policies put in place, invasions of privacy which in the US citizens would not stand and be up in arms over. The 24/7 camera monitoring on the streets is one thing that comes to mind. And if you listen to Pat Condell on Youtube you'd think the place was almost becoming a police state.