If you’re British, feeling very chipper and in need of something to bring you down a bit, get hold of a copy of “The Great Deception” and open it anywhere. This fascinating book catalogues the disasters which have hit the UK since it entered the EU and contrasts this with what’s happened elsewhere. In France and Spain, for example. If you’re a fisherman or farmer, you’ll be particularly depressed at what you read. Not that you will have been feeling too good in the first place. Any page will do but p. 416 would be hard to beat.

In the last 6 months, I’ve been involved in what’s called here a calvario in an attempt to get compensation from a certain low-cost airline for a cancelled flight. They finally agreed to pay this but then, guess what, wrote to tell me my last letter didn’t include the receipts mentioned in it. Brilliant! How can I hope to succeed against such blatant chicanery? But I will make one last heave.

Here’s a few items from the English version of a local menu. Cheap laughs but, hey, it’s Saturday . . .
Knives
Squid in ring
Varied chart
Normal salad
Quick shave with clams
Pig meat itched with sauce
Nipple with quince
Custard of homemade egg