I would guess it's all because of this American-style 'compensation
culture' that has unfortunately become the norm in the UK - if one
child so much as slips on a pack of ice or sneezes in a cilly
classroom then his parents will no doubt sue the local council for
damages.

Probably true. If we have a Nanny State it is because we have willed it.
Not all of us, obviously, but a sufficient number to have an effect, and it can
only be reversed by a clear-headed political or judicial will.

Tudor Hughes