The British plug is a marvel of good engineering. Other countries look on it with envy (except possibly Australia, which has a similar design of its own, IIRC).
Now of course it was "overengineered" by the standards of the time, to compensate for our ludicrous, dangerous, and still-legally-required "ring main" system, which as you say was due to aftermath-of-WW2 copper shortages. But the plug design is the part we got right.
Now of course it was "overengineered" by the standards of the time, to compensate for our ludicrous, dangerous, and still-legally-required "ring main" system, which as you say was due to aftermath-of-WW2 copper shortages. But the plug design is the part we got right.