And why?

Hello and thank-you for your question!

The best ISP in the UK must be Telewest Broadband or Blue Yonder or
whatever they are calling themselves this month.  I have to say this
since they are my current ISP and if I don't they might cut me off
:-D.

Further reasoning behind my nomination would be I have been with them
for over 3 years and during that time I have probably experienced less
than 3-4 hours of downtime (when I was with another unnamed ISP I used
to get that per week).  They also let me download as much or as little
as I desire each month with no restricions and best of all their price
is very competitive.  Did I mention they keep upgrading my line too
for no extra cost?  I started on 56k dial-up and now I am on a 8Mb
broadband connection for the sum of £14.99 a month.

At this point I should of course point you towards the Google Answers
"Important Disclaimer" (which I am sure you are aware of):
"Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general
information, and are not intended to substitute for informed
professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal,
investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not
endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product,
manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or
any opinion expressed in answers or comments."

I should also add to that I do not work for Telewest and I am just a
very happy consumer!

I suppose if you required a less biased opinion and one based on
numerous consumers a good place to look would be the Internet Industry
Awards found at http://www.ispaawards.org.uk/

Curiously, Blueyonder Broadband (now going under another name) are
only nominated for one award - Best Uncontended Service.  From their
award nominations it seems supermarkets are better at being an ISP
than many ISP's.  Personally I would prefer to talk to a geek than a
shelf-stacker if I had a problem with my internet connection (but you
pay your money, you take your choice I suppose).

The imaginatively titled ISPReview.co.uk website also shares my view
of Telewest Blueyonder (yes, another name change) being the best
cable/modem service.
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/

I am beginning to think that if BluYawnda stuck to one name (rather
than variations on a theme) they would be more popular and receive
more recognition.

I hope this information is sufficient for you and is what you were
expecting.  If not, please do not hesitate to ask for clarification
and I will supply a more reasoned answer than this rather one-sided
case.

Great stuff, Palitoy, Many Thanks.

Of course, I'm not in the Yule Bonder area.

Maybe I should move?

I currently use NTL Cable, as does Daughter #1; Daughter #2 can't get
Cable on her side of the road (!) so she has Tiscali ADSL.

No probs except cost: NTL charge me £24.99 pm for 2MB.

Daughter #1 can't get ADSL - even though she works in the Telecomms
industry. Influence just ain't what it used to be.

I can certainly slag off my last provider
- they were either a menace, or helpful, it depended on who you got
- being told to re-install Windows generally makes me see red
- they were a small Midlands company that was bought by a large USA operation.

I've been using BT (Broadband Business) for a few years now
Apart from a few outages, which were generally at unusual times of
day, probably due to planned maintenance, I've been very pleased with
their service.

However, I am distinctly unimpressed with their pricing.

Prior to ADSL, I used another IP and accessed them using ISDN from BT.
I was distinctly unimpressed by that pricing, it was impossible to get
'Anytime' since that required Caller Ident - not that anyone in BT
knew that.