Evidently Francois Hollande, the French president, has vetoed Belgium’s proposal for the issue of a special two euro coin to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo on June 18^th.

You may consider the attitude of such a staunch supporter of the European Union to be somewhat surprising, particularly when the allied victory freed Europe from the tyranny of the French dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte, and led to over 50 years of peace on the continent. However, Hollande feels the coin might undermine European unity and would “risk engendering unfavourable reactions in France”.

Of course, the real reason for the President’s snub is that Bonaparte was defeated by a largely British force led by the Duke of Wellington and the fact of the matter is that, in spite of centuries of practice, the French have always been such bad losers.

I suggest that instead of leaving it to the Europeans, the British government should order the striking of a two pound sterling coin to commemorate the battle. On one side of the coin would be an engraving of a charging British grenadier and on the reverse a troop of fleeing French cuirassiers. That would really irritate his eminence, the French president, wouldn’t it!