According to a survey for a national newspaper last week, we Brits lack national purpose, and its most apparent during bank holidays.

Apparently, unlike people on the Continent, the majority of us prefer to spend a bank holiday lounging about watching television or surfing the internet rather than getting out and about being active and "celebrating our country's heritage".

The survey of 2,000 adults asked whether they wanted a national day to promote a common identity and only around half agreed.

And fewer than a third wanted festivals similar to those enjoyed across Europe.

The survey concluded that Brits are "simply not pro-active during bank holidays" and "the fact that we don't do anything could well reflect this lack of national purpose".

It's all pretty sad that the majority of Brits are now watchers rather than doers. The result of this can be seen in the ever-growing waistlines.

Following on the same vein, people in most countries of the world the size of Britain would be partying in the streets if they had achieved the successes we have in this year's Olympics.

I wonder how many of us, far from partying in the streets, find the Olympics more of an annoyance because it has removed some of our favourite programmes from TV screens?

And how many of us look on Britain winning the 2012 Olympics not as an achievement but as a waste of money on a huge scale.

While us Brits seem to be losing purpose on a grand scale, it seems grabbing the opportunity to get a fast buck through Britain's appalling litigation culture shows no bounds.

The latest sickening example is a Tesco's delivery man who apparently slipped on the pathway to a person's home while delivering groceries and damaging his ankle.

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