Surely another purpose of confirming the QNH is that you or your oppo hasn't been a muppet and copied down QFE instead - then it can make a difference. Especially for performance penalties with QNH below 1013 in aheavy e/c with variable tailwindy conditions on a hot day.
As I see it most of UK ATC is there for a reason, the numpty who was questioning cleared to ALTITUDE xxx could do with a tiny bit of research on CFIT incidents, as for Localiser then ILS, well its what you are used to but doing it this way ensures that you are established inbound before commencing descent beyond a deignated safe area. Nothing a quick wilco call back followed by established doesn't sort out.
As someone said earlier its people who come back with flippant comments without understanding that it just adds to further RT as if given a QNH you need to read it back, simple as that so just do it and stop whinging.