Speaking of monetary union, I am in Edinburgh this weekend.

I must remember not to collect any Scottish bank notes. They are buggers to move on down here. Nobody wants to accept them. I have to go into a bank and ask them.

I still have a photo somewhere of a Bureau de Change in Baku, Azerbaijan I walked past a few years ago. Because of the BP interest in the Caspian oilfield, there were many people popping over from their Aberdeen office. The exchange for Scottish banknotes was slightly less than for English banknotes.

Why? Buggered if I know, but I'd love to buy that man (possibly Georgian, they seemed to run the mafia side of things there) a pint.