That is a valid point 'anon german'. But as it is in any country/culture/language (however you dress it), you still need to work hard for qualifications, if you are not capable of studying or researching for those qualifications then that is a fact. If you are struggling with the language and the british way, then a PhD would be an immense challenge. I do not mean to say that all people that show little initiative are not capable of taking up a postgraduate degree.
However, these people that I implied in my initial message simply think that a PhD will just be given to them. This is not the case in whatever country they come from, and in some cases some of the people are even british, so the culture is not an excuse. It is not the case in their home country, and it is certainly not the case in Britain, where education at university level is up there with the best in the world.
To obtain a PhD you need to fight off a huge amount of top competition, that is the point I tried to make, and that places aren't handed out like sweets.