Compare the noble three-pin plug with some of the other lesser devices in some other countries.

Doesn’t it make you proud to be British?

I suspect that’s going to fall foul of the BS standards in a few ways. For example, the fuse holder comes out on the user side, so you could pull it out with the plug still in the wall, and leave a hole ideal for inserting a screwdriver or knife which is an electrocution risk because the fuseholder contacts are still live. The fuse holder needs to pull out on the wall side, so that the plug has to be removed from the wall socket before you can get the fuse out. Also the live and neutral connections seem very close together if not actually in contact at 1:41 on the video, and there are strict rules on the spacing between conductors in terms of the distances allowable along surface paths and direct through air which this doesn’t seem to meet. Since it is also proposed to be used in its folded state into a matching socket, the socket design has to be carefully thought through to include the required spacings, and live seems to be very close to earth when folded.
I’d be concerned that a sliding/rotating contact system had enough points of contact and contact pressure not to be vulnerable to poor contact due to oxidation and contantimation, leading to high resistance, high temperatures at the contact points and possible melting or fire risk.

I just love the fact this article was written by Matthew Sparkes

Very cleaver, however I do not see how you could prevent it being plugged into a standard socket without the protective wings being folded out.

Also MartinC is right about the fuse – but the easy solution here is to make that not replaceable – how often do they blow? Just make it that you have to replace the whole lead if that happens.

Trouble is you can get the benefits of this and more much more simply by using a two part system – a small internationally standard plug that plugs into an adapter for each local market. This way you can migrate progressively to using the international version directly.

It is illegal to sell a product with a bare wire lead on the end and expect the customer to wire his own plug. Wikipedia states

“Trading standards legislation in both the UK and Ireland requires that all normal electrical goods sold in either country should be fitted with a BS 1363 / IS 401 plug.”

It is not illegal to purchase and fit a plug, as shown by the number of shops selling them. Since all new products come with a molded on plug, you shouldnt need to buy very many of them, which H&S hope leads to fewer miswiring accidents, but there are always situations where you need to make up a plug with a lead – in that case H&S assume you know what you are doing and can follow electrical instructions.

It always seemed nonsensical to purchase a large electrical item such as a TV and have to pay another 69p for a plug, then spent the first ten minutes after unpacking the TV fiddling about with a screwdriver.

It can’t be any good because there is no room to put a PC inside it
And did I miss an obvious reference to powerline networking in story on the “PC in a mains plug”?
I think MartinC is confusing “should” with “must”, or what is desirable with what is illegal under statute law (or worse) if it’s not done. The latter is rather Hegelian, old chap; we don’t things like that on this side of the Channel. Much. Yet.
A comment on BS1363 (mentioned above) versus BS1363A: jam a penny piece between the pins of a 1363 and plug it in; result: excitement. Try it with a 1363A; result: boring. (And don’t try this at home; wait until you reach the office. Or wait for Mythbusters to check it out.)

Why not go one step further, the clue being in the picture. Make a flat adapter, which has the “pins” for live and neutral fitted, and a pass-through hole for earth. Bring the feeds from L and N into the centre, where the new plug fits.

Buy one for each plug in the premise. Then, take the new plug above, and plug into the adaptor. Modify it slightly so it loses the 90deg swivel plate, reducing complexity, cost, and a potential failure point.