Wire insulation deteriorates over time. Rodents like to chew through it. Water can find it's way in through plumbing or roof leaks. Higher voltage is more likely to start a fire in these instances.
The total number of fires of electrical origin in the EU is estimated to be 273,000 per year.
According to the US National Fire Protection Assocation: Fire departments responded to an estimated average of 46,700 home fires involving electrical failure or malfunction each year in 2015–2019.
Stats aside, which do you think will cause a bigger spark, 110 or 220?https://www.europeanfiresafetyalliance.org/publications/whit...
https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-too...
What keeps a kid from sticking something metal into it?
UK plugs and sockets are really, really, really safe. Except to stand on.
You can try pushing with something like a screwdriver (to test for live) and it's hard to pivot the plate (feels like it needs both pins to pivot), and a non round tool snags on the plastic cover plate.
On the other end, in India I saw a power strip that would accept EU, UK, or US plugs. I took one look and refused to get close, but someone else plugged my laptop in and it worked. (everything got 240 volts, which my laptop power supply was fine with)