Manners given the elbow

OLD-FASHIONED good manners such as saying “ladies first”, “please” and “thank you”, as well as keeping elbows off the table, are in danger of dying out.

These days people also struggle with not swearing, holding doors open for the person following, and not using a phone at the dinner table. It also emerged in a poll that two-thirds of the population believe Britain is becoming less civilised, with one-third believing that politeness is now less important.

Sky Atlantic, which commissioned the study ahead of the launch of its series Britannia, said: “Many have noticed standards slipping.”