Why are Italian sausages so different from those in the UK? I've just returned to London from a holiday in Puglia, Italy. The sausages (not salami) are so completely different to the sausages here. Their colours are pink/white or red/white and much more bright/bold, whereas here the colours are pretty drab. Here when I cut open the casing to crumble out the sausage meat to use in something else, I get a sticky and pretty disgusting texture. The meat in their sausages is much more like actual meat. When cooked I find the Italian ones taste so much better as well.

Basically I hate the sausages here and love the Italian ones. What's the difference between the two (aside from aromatics etc) and how can I get more "real meat" sausages in my life? Obviously I could buy from some of the specialist online retailers who stock them, and I probably will, but I want to understand why the sausages here are so completely different. For example, why is the sausage "meat" here basically a sticky paste?

Images illustrating the difference:


Italian sausages
UK sausages
I agree with your assessment of the sausages between the UK and Italy, getting decent sausages in the UK is harder, but not impossible. Commercial sausages in the UK tend to be very finely ground, and have rusk or some sort of meal to act as a filler and absorb juices as they are cooked. UK sausages tend to be flavored by herbs, or have apple in them. Italian sausages are generally more coarsely ground so you see distinct pieces of meat and fat throughout, they also have less fillers so they shed more fat when cooked. 

In the UK you get what you pay for with sausages, if you get the cheap store brand stuff you'll get sad tubes of grey paste which will split the second they experience direct heat and spray so much fat the entire barbecue starts on fire. If you shell out a bit more you will get a better product. My advice is to find a good butcher, many make their own sausages in store and they usually have good variety. My local one has quite a few and one is an actual authentic Italian style sausage which is excellent, you mileage may vary but it's worth shopping around.