The trouble is, for some reason everyone hates the English.
What no-one seems to realise is that the English hate the English for the most part too.
Scousers hate Mancs, Yorkshire folk hate Lancastrians, ... Midlanders hate the Black Country folk ... Geordies hate each other with a passion depending on which river they live near, (Tyne, Tees, Weir etc) ... and all English people hate the Cockneys. (that's really easy to do, to be fair).
I think the English 'muckied their ticket' during the 80's and 90's due to football hooliganism and disgraceful behaviour on Spanish holidays.
But what our foreign detractors fail to undertand is that a good percentage of those behaving that way these days are actually from Cardiff, Glasgow or Swansea.
But no one hates the British, just the English.
When I visit family in Yorkshire, I hate most of them too. Especially those with turbans and long black beards.