Addicted to junk food and celebrities...Lonely Planet's damning verdict on England today

England has been damned as celebrity-obsessed with a ‘dicey’ economy and an addiction to junk food.The verdict is in the latest Lonely Planet travel guide, which also portrays the Coalition Government as devious over spending cuts. The guide, published this month and expected to be bought by 100,000 people worldwide, is regarded as a bible by many travellers. Co-ordinating author David Else laments that the nation which spawned Shakespeare, Dickens and the Brontes has become obsessed with celebrity. He writes: ‘It’s impossible to overlook the recent trend for scurrilous celebrity autobiographies – penned by everyone from footballers to reality TV also-rans – a reminder of the increasing importance of hype over merit in the modern market. Whatever you make of the literary qualities of these memoirs, the British buy them by the bucketload.’ The guide claims England is still blighted by bad food and dismal dietary habits.It says: ‘A culinary heritage of ready-sliced white bread, fatty meats and boiled-to-death vegetables, all washed down by tea with four sugars, remains firmly in place in many parts of the country.(Daily Mail)