Thanks everyone for their replies, even the rants.
Next, I will admit that US FAA has more than its share of oddities, non-ICAO and downright stupid procedures and limitations, least of all, an out-of-date technology. So anyone calling our kettle black is absolutely right. Don't get me started about seppo R/T-wildly worth condemning.
Lastly, in my job, two years out of USAF, I have flown to more overseas locations than I ever did in the Service. My question was merely trying to make sense out of a procedures rarely used here and nearly everywhere else. At Luton, I listen to pilots reading back QNH, I do so if only to fit in. I refuse to be the ugly Yank, but I also refuse to operate clueless as to local procedure and why it has evolved that way. Not a "just do it" kind of guy.
Thanks GF