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• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 14 March 2007

One final question. Studying your documents there do not seem to be a vast number of trips being planned, for example, to other Commonwealth countries, with which Britain already has very good relations but could be improved. Is there a particular reason why that is the case?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 14 March 2007

One of the considerations might be that we have had very clear ones to Cuba, Venezuela etc, which do not strike us as being those areas which would be immediately promoting London as such an important international city. Clearly, that is a priority. Why?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 14 March 2007

I am interested to get a sense of where relations with Europe - or perhaps I should say the rest of Europe at the risk of alienating some people round the Chamber - figure in this. John [Ross], you mentioned the Euro Zone but that is not the whole of Europe. One could talk of the Euro Zone, the EU and Europe. We have the Brussels office costing something over £400,000 a year. Is it that that is working very well and therefore low profile? I would have hoped that the Mayor would set a high priority on good relations...

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 14 March 2007

That thought had actually occurred to me as well, that it is included in the figures, and I think most people would regard it as international.

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 14 March 2007

So this is a relationship between cities, because I was not sure whether promoting our position within the EU came within promotion, which was one of your three top priorities?