Flinty in my opinion has hit the nail squarely on the head.
My original point, and I do apologize if it was taken in the wrong context, was that what's the point in spending all that money and learning all that largely useless information, if you could just go to the US and get a FAA ticket for the price of a good holiday come back to the UK and fly here??
Its not a level playing field and it never will be until there is a standard ICAO ATPL. Until then.................I'm afraid there will always be an us and them.
Its not in my opinion about who makes the better pilot. The aeroplane has no idea who's flying it and I have also seen terrible pilots on both sides of the fence.
Pace I'm sorry but you are taking the high ground on a completely different issue and for the wrong reasons, at least with me.