Thanks for your answers, bmb.
Number 7 is definitely correct - I had thoughr the phrase was Harold Wilson's, but apparently he copied it from George Brown, presumably at a time when the latter was not "tired and emotional" (as a newt.)
Number 5 is undeniably correct - Etain is indeed the fFrench for the metal and there is a very small town of that name near ther border with Belgium and Luxemburg, but I had in mind somewhere much more familiar to English people.
Number 2 is one of the harder ones, I think, and the friends who were the original recipients needed a further hint.
Number 11 was clearly visible in Brighouse's Commercial Street and in most other towns of any significance in England.