Tks Windswept & plans,
Interesting answers to all my questions, and it does still seem you have a choice between stringent Eurocontrol or hit and miss cross-country.
btw plans, on a completely different subject, you've got Jetplanner Dispatch set-up on 'basic' mode, so you won't get ACKs and MANs (because you have AFTN). It can do it though.