I came across this article from the Globe and Mail website of how Londoners speak.  ‘Londoners’, according to Eric Wright ‘are under the illusion that all the English speak the same language, that the old dialects have been dissolved into something called “estuary English,” the sounds made by natives of the Thames estuary, has now become universal.  If you believe this, spend an hour in a betting shop in Birmingham, only 160 kilometres from London. You won’t understand a word they are saying. You will need help, and not just in Birmingham.’ 

To read more about Eric’s opinion of how us ‘Brits’ speak, click here  I am not in total agreeance with all he has to say, but it’s interesting to hear how other natural English speakers perceive our use of the same language!