RayC

Dust off your crystal ball, @transam Job for you, mate????

What would be the point of that?

Infiltration - titter ye not - that's what it is! Next coup - come on! you don't think that we've seen the last of them, do you? - will be led by the Chinese masquerading as Thai schoolgirls.

True. But the distribution is skewed towards the very good with some excellent chocolate available relatively cheaply.

Be even more "special" and buy Belgium chocolate.

Possibly but no more so than other celebrity. Notwithstanding that this particular report may be completely fictitious, it may have gained William a few admirers. As an aside, I have no idea why I even looked at this thread let alone have become engaged in a discussion on it. If we must have royalty (very debatable), then I would much prefer the UK royals - "working" or otherwise - to follow the Belgium model i.e. have nothing more than a ceremonial constitutional role and be rarely mentioned in the media.

Got to hand it to the PR people who look after the younger Windsor couple's affairs. They do a great job keeping their names in the headlines.

If they are doing these videos for a bit of fun good luck to them. If they are doing them in order to try and make a few bob, I doubt that all the luck in the world is going to help much.

"It was all a misunderstanding over a bottle of water." .... "Mr Carkhuff now works in the water industry in the US." Karma?????

OP: Talk360 is an alternative if Skype doesn't work for you. I am currently in Thailand and called HMRC Self Assessment 0044 161 931 90 70 a few days ago using Talk360. The call lasted 1hr 22m (+/-1 hr on hold) and cost me £2.98. I called @midday GMT. I'd suggest calling when they open (08:00 GMT I think?) I can't comment on your case of course but, for what it's worth, I've erroneously been issued with penalty notices in the past - and have been again! - and have found HMRC willing to listen and then waive the penalities if they are at fault. Good luck.

History suggests that being an adulterer forms part of the job description.

You were meant to put in a good word for me, not kibosh the whole thing!???? Just can't get the staff nowadays!????

I didn't realise that Charlie was Billy-No-Mates. Assuming that there is free, unlimited booze and something to eat, I could pop along if he is looking for people to make up the numbers. Easy enough for me to jump on the tube. I don't mind getting an Uber back if the party goes on a bit. Anyone who knows Charlie, please pass on this message to him. Thanks.

(Perhaps?) the beginning of a story with a happy ending. The vote happens soon. Sunak imposes a 3-line whip. Johnson defies it. Sunak removes the Conservative whip from Johnson. Johnson is not selected to stand by the Tories at the next election. Johnson returns to his previous job as the butt of the jokes on HIGNFY. We all live happily ever after. THE END.

I asked you to clarify your statement because I didn't - and still don't - understand your comment. Instead of simply doing so, you embarked on some cryptic, meaningless linguistic journey. I've been anything other than evasive but I sincerely wish that I had been.

I agree that a strong currency has its pros and cons but an unplanned overnight drop of 13% drop, which occured as a result of the referendum, could never be considered good news. Why do you consider that the pound was over-valued prior to the referendum?

If your intention is to irritate then congratulations, you have fully achieved your goal. However, if it was to engage in a serious, grown-up discussion then you have failed miserably. Why can't you simply repeat your question then maybe, just maybe I could answer it

We've been here before, Mac. In the years leading up to the referendum, sterling consistently traded in €1.20 - €1.30 range. Since the referendum, it hasn't broken €1.20 and has consistently traded at the lower end of the €1.10 - €1.19 range.

Croatia had little choice but to adopt the Euro and it is far too early to form any opinion about whether its' adoption by them is a success. I lived and worked in Belgium both pre and post-Euro. My job meant that I had to travel throughout Europe. At a personal level, the introduction of the Euro made things so much easier and I'm sure that is true for many others. The problem - as I explained in a previous post - occurs at a macro level: It is almost impossible for the ECB to reconcile the - often conflicting - monetary needs of all 20 Eurozone states and that causes problems in the wider economy. I'm sure that you will enjoy your holiday in Croatia. A beautiful country. Can I suggest that you visit Plitvice National Park. Simply stunning.

Maybe you should take your own advice given that you seem to be incapable of expressing yourself clearly.

It would be so much easier if you stated clearly what point you are trying to make. I'm no good at cryptic puzzles and I couldn't stand that 'KungFu' TV series.

@JonnyF: I'll let you deal with this one!????????

That's very kind of you to say so, Transam. PS Cheque's in the post????

Thanks, I think? I say 'I think' because I'm still none the wiser about what line I've meant to have crossed!?

I agree with almost everything in 'The Economist' article. My only quibble would be with the title. I agree that Europe has emerged as the winner in the head-to-head with the UK but - as I have mentioned previously - I am firmly in the Barnier camp here: There are no winners, only losers. Perhaps, a better headline would be something like: "Brexit has caused more pain to the UK than the EU".