PaulT

Interesting that the Eastern bloc has the lower GDP to debt.

Victor, glad the procedure is over for you. Good that you are thinking positive, i.e. the housekeeper. Best of luck for Wednesday.

There is a clip on YouTube of the exchange between Robin Day and John Nott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln3SpXXYTHY

Gluestick, is one of the problems with most politicians is that as Robin Day put it to John Nott that he was 'an here today and gone tomorrow politician'. So they try to give away goodies that cannot be afforded so they are well thought of and leave it to the next lot to pick up the pieces whilst they take up well paid directorships and consultancies.

Silly me Idun when I saw the title I thought you had been constipated.

As for the NHS being in deficit well, that is all about to change. Now that the UK has voted to leave the EU those nice Brexiters have said that the NHS will get an extra £350M per week. Patient choice is the in thing with the NHS. When the GP says that they will refer you then the patient chooses where they wish to go - well, that is the theory. As for Iduns cost of TV, the two companies that were originally involved in this had to finance the installation themselves and they took the money - it has proved not to be a very good financial return. I wonder how many people in France do not go for treatment because they do not have top up insurance and cannot afford their 30% part just as in the US if you do not have insurance and no money then you die.

Gluestick, a very interesting post - do post more often. I can always remember commenting to an Arab about the number of Arabs killed by Israelis and vice versa. Her comment was that the numbers were low compared to the number of Arabs killed by Arabs. But have we not seen one faith killing another faith closer to home - Northern Ireland. In the Arab world the ones that normally get quoted are the Shia and Sunni Muslims. Always thought that religion was about tolerance and understanding, shows how wrong you can be :(

Yes, best of luck for Monday.

I suppose that if you are punishing someones family because of their actions on the basis 'they must have known'. So when someone is convicted of paedophilia then their family should also be sent to prison because 'the must have known'.

[quote user="Patf"]Paul - the doctor could be wrong in his diagnosis. Did you have a urine test? I had pain at night in one of my toes. The doctor said it could be gout and prescribed some tablets - can't remember the name, they were blue, and gave me terrible diarrhoeia, I stopped taking them and the pain turned out not to be gout but arthritis. Urine sample showed uric acid in normal limits. [/quote] The doctor wants me to have a blood test to check for uric acid once this has subsided. She put me on Nurofen and something to protect my stomach. Sorry OP I rather hijacked this thread

Angie, you should have realised it was official........ 'I did try calling the number on the letter but this goes unanswered as have my emails.' :)

Would have thought that deporting the whole family because one member has become 'radicalised' (whatever that mean) would be very counter productive. Could well imagine a feeling of resentment felt by those who do not wish to return to the country that they came from and have started integrating into their 'new' country. With the resentment felt within the community of those left they would be far easier converts to extremist views.

Anyone got copies of the newspapers from the Middle and Near East from the 11th to 15th centuries? Just interested in what they say about Christians invading their countries and being 'unpleasant' to those who would not take up the Christian faith. Their turn now.

For me it's a dilemma. Yesterday the doctor diagnosed that I am suffering from gout and a big nono is red wine. So do I give up red wine and hopefully control the gout whilst losing my faculties or carry on drinking it and keep my faculties whilst keeping the excruciating pain of gout :) Seriously, never realised the intense pain of gout.

and the ECHR will quickly declare 'you cannot do that as their safety may be in jeopardy' which is far more important than the safety of the homegrown residents of the country that they have emigrated to.

From my experiences French estate agents deserve the highest award for fiction and no idea where the property is that they photograph to use in the listings. Think two of the best that I encountered were: Views of the Pyrenees - when I queried this or rather lack of it, I was taken up to the top floor, stood on a chair so that I could look out of a velux window and yes, you could just about see one of the peaks. No neighbours -the property was surrounded by six other properties.

So French tradespeople have sped up then :)

Jewell wrote: 'The last few times I've been over (Portsmouth to Caen and back) the queues have been longer' Gosh, longer than 12 miles and it was never reported on the news - obviously Dover is far more important than reporting on the 12+ miles queues at Portsmouth. Welcome to the forum

Any mechanic dealing with modern cars should have a diagnostics code reader as it is needed to ascertain exactly what is wrong in some instances.

Pat I read and interpreted it to not have the word 'happy' applicable - sorry if I have misconstrued your words Victor.

I suppose one of the problems is that gites etc are normally let Saturday to Saturday so go Tuesday or Wednesday and lose half a week, same coming back.

Jeremy Corbyn has found a cheap place to have them made: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3705087/How-low-Corbyn-new-slave-labour-T-shirt-scandal-poverty-stricken-workers-paid-pitiful-30-PENCE-hour-make-10-tops-fund-leadership-campaign.html

I suppose for some, they have paid for a non refundable ferry ticket, paid their accommodation costs in the country they are heading to so if they do turn around and go home a lot of money will be lost. Wonder how much perishable goods are on the lorries?

Ooooh, could there be an opportunity? Off to Kent with a trolley, will make a fortune walking up and down the queue selling sandwiches and drinks. But joking apart a terrible situation to be in especially with the heat. Dare say some are low on fuel - 'we'll fill up in France it is cheaper' so cannot run the a/c. The BBC was reporting that there was one officer checking coaches and it was taking 40 minutes per coach! How many coaches pass through Dover per day?

Those charged with Brexiting the EU are reporting that countries are coming forward wanting trade deals (I read that the EU / US deal has come off the rails). Now, assuming the Brexit happens and the UK finds itself in the happy position of selling around the world and everything is good what impact will that have on those countries making net contributions to the EU where there are already voices of discontent?