Quite a surreal moment

The organisers of the conference I'm at decided to present Leon Brittan, after he had delivered a lecture, with a birthday cake to mark his birthday (which was earlier this week). Why they didn't have the courage of their convictions and say that the cake was for the 20th anniversary of the Institute (which is what the conference is marking) was beyond me. As you can, Brittan was a bit non plussed as to what he was supposed to do with the knife he was given.

Answers/suggestions on a postcard.

Continuing the European theme, this is an interesting Economist piece relating the corker of a speech given by Poland's Foreign Minister in Oxford recently. Very very interesting. The key paragraph, at least from my perspective:

The EU is an English-speaking power. The Single Market was a British idea. A British commissioner runs our diplomatic service. You could, if only you wished, lead Europe's defence policy. But if you refuse, please don't expect us to help you wreck or paralyze the EU. Do not underestimate our determination not to return to the politics of the 20 century. You were not occupied. Most of us on the continent were. We will do almost anything to prevent that from happening again.

A man with a sense of history.