I'm as partisan a sports fan as any and I'm still struggling to quite understand the fascination amongst the general public that hasn't paid that much attention to the ISS beforehand. This isn't really showing off the competitive prowess or cultural influence of fellow Brits; this is just a routine addition to a decades old international project who happens to be British.

Especially when Britain already has pretty interesting space projects conceived and based in Britain, supported by our taxes and employing mostly Britons...