Strictly, it's the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". That's what it says on my passport.

The relative decline of Britain and other European nations is a historical inevitability. The days of colonialism, technological supremacy and a monopoly on industrial production are long over. The same thing is happening to the USA now, but not so far advanced.

The difference in Britain seems to be that all the other European nations are being adults about their decline. A lot of the Brexiters seem to seriously believe that we can just elect to go back to being an Empire.