A whole bunch of aircraft have wheel spacers, nothing new there and they get forgotten, also nothing new there. Awkward and can cause small damage but more embarrassing than anything else.
As to the British character that's an interesting one. However a few facts; british aviation safety leaves France way behind not even smelling the dust because it has long settled before the french come into town.
Air France has a safety culture that shall we say, is a culture all to its itself.
Fact is you have more hull loses, more incidents. What are you trying to say?
And note what I am saying, culture. That is not necessarily talking about skill, intelligence, training etc. etc. It is making a statement about safety though.