LIBG ANNUAL DIPLOMATS RECEPTION

National Liberal Club

12^th February, 2004

A host of Ambassadors, High Commissioners and First Secretaries from 70 countries attended the 2004 LIBG Annual Diplomats Reception. Guests included Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon, Liberal International Secretary General, Federica Sabbati, as well as the Director General of the English Speaking Union and the Master of the Worshipful Company of Traders.

Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords were also present, together with representative of the international press corps. For the first time, journalists from Die Welt, Time Magazine and the BBC World Service attended. The number is set to expand next year. The reception provided an opportunity for many of the 400 members of LIBG to meet representatives of overseas nations and demonstrate LIBG’s practical internationalism.

LIBG President John, Lord Alderdice of Knock hosted the event with Chair Robert Woodthorpe Browne and Vice-Chair Sharon Bowles. In his welcoming address, Lord Alderdice stressed both the importance of diplomacy in conflict resolution and avoidance (drawing not a little on his experience as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly) and celebrated the value of international liberal co-operation.