Vote to settle regional differences

IS it dinner or tea? Which is better: Rugby Union or Rugby League? And what on earth is Sconegate?

These are just some of the burning issues that get Britons into a lather. A study commissioned by the managing director of Megabus, Mark Venables, to celebrate 20 years of bringing people together, also highlighted the differences of opinion up and down the UK.

A survey of 2,000 people was intended to set the records straight, but in reality, it just added more fuel to the debate.

Sconegate. One might think this relates to the pronunciation of ‘scone’ (scone or skon), but it actually re­ volves around the age­old debate of ‘jam or cream first’.

The study revealed there was a clear winner. Thirtythree per cent of those polled said they preferred a scone with jam first, the Cornwall way. A mere 18 per cent, said the correct way was clotted cream first with a topping of jam, known as the Devonshire version.

Other regional differences included whether an evening meal should be called ‘dinner’ or ‘tea’.

There were many different suggestions as to what was the proper name for a small round bread loaf. ‘Bap’ ranked highly for those living in the south east with, while

‘roll’ was the most common term of phrase for the Scots. However, East Midlanders prefer to use the word ‘cob’ and ‘barm’ is the most popular term for those living in the north east. Other suggestions included bread bun, bread cake and even tea cake.

Among other issues were, ketchup vs brown sauce and rugby union versus rugby league, English Breakfast or Earl Grey tea.

And if anyone was wondering where to find the best curry in the UK, the survey said Birmingham is the ‘curry capital’ with 24 per cent, followed by Bradford, 11 per cent and Manchester with 10 per cent.