On Thursday our EU Commissioner, David Byrne will be hob-nobbing, along with his wife Geraldine, around Buckingham Palace, no less. The entire Euro Commission has been invited to a garden party by Queen Elizabeth, one of several being held over the summer. It is his first official visit to London since he became Commissioner and he will be meeting a number of consumer organisations.
Meanwhile, at home in Brussels, Byrne is travelling in a pool car, a BMW in fact, since his Merc was stolen at gunpoint from outside the ambassador, Denis O'Leary's house last month. The Merc hasn't been seen since but is probably ferrying a Russian gangster around the hotspots of Moscow.