Alan Zoff

No problem with people changing their views. But Johnson's past suggests it his not his views that change but merely his tactics.

A Prime Minister worthy of the title would not have engineered the situation to get himself into that role. He realised that staying as a Remainer was never going to get him into No 10 as he would not have stood out from the pack; he had to make use of his status as a controversial figure with celebrity appeal. Fighting for Brexit was his best chance, whether or not he saw it as the right thing to do for the country (which frankly did not come into the equation). A brief examination of Johnson's background will show that he has lied and changed position all through his career to get what he wanted. So in that sense, Wooly, you are right - what else could he have done? - but only in the sense of satisfying his own ego and ambition, rather than acting in the best interests of the nation.

A long walk across a short gang plank over the Thames, preferably chained to Farage and Rees-Mogg

Perhaps they would have found something to charge me for if they hadn't caused the damage. Who knows? But they have probably cost me a couple of hundred pounds in lost diesel and a repair bill. Plus the unpleasantness of driving a few hundred miles in raw diesel fumes. That's all

My mechanic suggested that the reason they cleared off in a rush was that the chap knew he had damaged something when diesel landed in his face and they didn't want to be around when I found out and confronted them. Four fit, tooled-up "soldiers" - I could have taken them easily.

I agree concerning the result, Nick. I was merely commenting on the irony of the situation. As for any whingeing, I was going by the interviews with the players I had seen - I rarely put much store in what is put in newspapers nowadays.

A decent French-English dictionary, perhaps, Wooly.

Taking nothing away from Stokes, it is a little ironic that both yesterday and in the World Cup the Aussies were denied in the last over by bad umpire decisions. I have not heard any complaints from them this time, though, which is a credit to the sportsmanship.

I fully support efforts to control smuggling and had no problem about being stopped. I do expect reasonable communication and not to be left with a damaged vehicle, a fuel leak and a large bill.

Annoying experience recently with French customs. I was travelling my usual route from Calais to the Auvergne and pulled in at Lisses Services south of Paris for a comfort break. As I was about to restart, 4 Douane officers strode towards me and ordered me to stand clear of my van. The lead officer made me stand 2 metres away while the other 3 took my keys and began searching the van, removing my suitcases to open in the car park, pulling my credit cards out of my wallet, etc. One spent most of the time under the van. I could hear that he was using tools - including some of my tools, it turned out, which he had "borrowed" from the van - but boss officer refused to tell me what he was doing. He asked questions about my property in France and the UK, my bank address, etc but refused to answer any of my questions. Eventually, they strode off, as quickly as they had arrived. I checked the van and my papers, and everything seemed to have been put back as they found it. But I could smell diesel and when I looked under the van there was a pool of diesel on the floor and the fuel tank was soaked with the stuff. I tried to find the customs team but they had disappeared from the site. I had no choice but to continue on my way - another 190 miles - hoping that whatever they had done had been reconnected properly. The fuel gauge did not suggest I was losing fuel and when I arrived at the French house it was raining so it was difficult to tell if there was a leak. I twice visited the local gendarmerie to report the incident but, despite arriving at the supposed manned times, it was locked up! I had no reason to use the van much while I was in France and I rather put it out of my mind. However, after filling up, I set off for the UK and when I stopped for a break, there was a clear smell of diesel and the tank was wet. Fortunately, it held out until I got home but the next day - while en route to the garage to have it checked over - the van conked out. It had to be towed and when the tank was removed - a time consuming job - it was found that the 2 spigots for the flow and return pipes to the fuel tank had been damaged. The mechanic said it appeared that the customs chap, in his search for stuff that might be hidden above the tank, had lowered it slightly to get an arm or a probe between the tank and the floor of the van. In the process, he had split the two nylon elbows, the return one more than the flow. The van continued to run, spilling more and more fuel, until the split in the flow elbow had opened enough under vibration to allow air into the system. Both elbows had to be replaced. I suppose I was fortunate to get it back to the UK. Even more fortunate that it is a diesel rather than a petrol van as if it had been the latter, with petrol spraying over the exhaust, I might not have been here to tell the tale. When still at Lisses, I spoke to a French lorry driver who had watched the incident. I said I was surprised to find Customs active so far from the ports but he told me they are often around the Lisses area as it's a motorway hub and a handy place for smugglers, drug dealers, etc to make exchanges. He said there is no point in making a fuss as they are above the law. They don't even give you any paperwork to prove that they have stopped you. So they can leave you stranded with a vehicle they have damaged, and possibly in a dangerous condition, without any comeback. I don't know how much diesel I have wasted and am waiting for the repair bill....

Thanks, all, for your views/information - and amusement. It's a relief to discover that I do not appear to have missed as much as I suspected might have been the case.

I have owned a house in central France for 14 years. Particularly since I retired, I spend as much time there as possible, although not as much as in the UK. I have carried on as if Brexit didn't exist, using my block booking with Eurotunnel to flit back and forth. What, if anything, should I have done/be doing to enable this happy arrangement to continue?

I could weep

I used to have this problem until I resited the dish so that the trees across the road were no longer in the path from the satellite. :) It was ok in the winter when the trees were bare.

Well I never! It appears I'm a Brexiteer, after all.

Perfectly understandable. They need to raise the lost revenue from diesel tax when everyone switches to electric vehicles.

And there was me thinking all the players and managers were either born and bred on Merseyside or in North London. You learn something every day.

It just proves that pure English blood is best

As the legal challenge has been dismissed, I just hope Boris was telling the truth when he said he would lie in front of the first bulldozer to start work on the third Heathrow runway. I wonder if a special licence is needed to drive one....

I find time and again in France that it can really pay to establish a rapport with the official before getting down to business. They seem quite capable of bending all sorts of rules in your favour if you can get them on side. I seem to have got away with, well not quite murder, but things I was told were unavoidable.

As Blodwyn has indicated, you should not need a solicitor for the UK apartment, assuming it is a standard joint ownership without any restrictions on the title. The Land Registry will simply remove your wife's name from the title when they have seen evidence of her death. If you have ever been involved in a tax planning exercise, the joint ownership might possibly have been severed, in which case there will be a restriction to be dealt with at some point. The Land Registry entries for the property are easily obtained and will show any such restrictions.

I don't know how it works in France but when I did probate work for a UK solicitor, he often found that the title of a property had not been changed after the death of the first spouse. Documents relating to the two deaths were simply submitted to the Land Registry together and it was all sorted out in the wash, the family effectively avoiding incurring two lots of transfer costs. One difference is that there would have been no tax implications in the UK on the earlier death if ownership passed between spouses.

Did the Notaire provide a detailed breakdown? If it were me, I would want to see exactly how the figure was arrived at, as between fees, taxes, etc.

UK could do with a Macron

Looks like it's AND a year in prison. Yipes!