I'm not sure how aware the international community are of the disaffection between the French and the English. In England, certainly, its something of a national sport to have a pop at the French and, having lived in Paris for a year, I know that much the same goes on the other side of the English Channel - or La Manche as the French insist on calling the stretch of water that separates us.

In a recent child custody case, two boys of a French mother and an English father insisted they did not want to live in France with their mother but would rather be in good old Blighty with dad. In an astonishing show of support, three of Britain's most senior judges decided that the boys had an inherent right not to live in France.

English readers shouldn't be too quick to applaud, however. It seems that the boys' reasons for preferring Britain were that they could walk to school, could have their own key and would not have to do as much homework.

Actually, in this instance, I don't think that justice was dumb at all - I just liked the story!

Reuters