Small cog;
Perhaps then you can help me with understanding the reason for a circling approach given by TC? To paraphrase (I can’t copy and paste the extract); they are intended for when a straight in approach is not suitable. That’s also what ICAO PanOps 8168 has to say for the reason of having a circling approach. No ‘tenuous interpretations’ needed of that surely?
Already been covered in the thread It is also in the linked article. It is when a the final approach is very steep or not aligned with the runway and it is in precisely those circumstances when the best or only option may be to circle back to what would otherwise be the 'straight-in' runway, because eg the reciprocal is downwind, as many contributors have understood or even experienced.