What were some political and economic factors that supported the Industrial Revolution in England?

Question

What were some political and economic factors that supported the Industrial Revolution in England?
Lists are good, i already checked wikipedia

Answer 1

Here's one that does not get mentioned a lot. The aristocracy and genteel classes spent a lot of their time in the country instead of being required to spend most of their time around the royal palace where the king could keep an eye on them, as happened in France. This meant they could see the resources in the region and could finance use of them. The Duke of Bridgewater was one. He spent a lot of money digging canals. He even built bridges to carry one canal over another. Well named. Check the story of the Birmingham Lunar Society too.

Answer 2

Apart from all the other theories you'll read about, I always remember reading an odd little theory. Tea was introduced to the UK around the 17th century (?), and over a period of time became the national drink. Basically water was polluted, due to dead animals & crap in the rivers. So if you had a safe drink it would be fermented alcohol. so on mainland Europe they where getting drunk on Beer & Wine. But because you had to boil water to make tea, you killed all the germs in it. The Theory goes that due to the health properties of tea, the UK became a healthier country and hence able to spend more time working etc.