Thanks for your input. I get most of the reasons you listed and feel that I do communicate well (I've been in charge of small teams/mentored etc.) and don't get flustered when asked these questions. But a lot of the time they require some kind of "leap" from the problem to the solution. Usually it's some obscure data structure I should have used or an adapted sorting algorithm which in my 10 years of developing software I've never had to use before - and I've worked in some diverse industries.

I've got another day long interview in a couple of days and to get there I had to do 2 phone screens and a 3-day long skills test at home. I get it, you have to get the right people but in a country where you can just sack someone at the drop of a hat it seems so over the top. Even more so in comparison to the UK where firing someone is extremely difficult.