The north of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be filled with the sights, sounds and flavours of east London at a celebratory weekend to mark the first anniversary of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Games. Working in partnership with the Barbican and east London arts venture Create London, the Park will be hosting East – a weekend of music, food, art and theatre inspired by east London on 27 and 28 July 2013. Continue reading →

The Policy Chairman visited Washington DC from 18-19 April 2013. He met with senior officials from the International Monetary Fund, the regulators – the Federal Reserve Board, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), staff from the Congressional committees with responsibility for financial services regulatory legislation and oversight of the regulators, financial services membership associations, think tanks and the British Embassy. The main topic of discussion was US and EU financial services policy and legislation that will have an extraterritorial impact on global financial markets, including the proposed European Financial Transaction Tax and US rules for swap dealers engaging in cross-border derivatives.

At the Court of Common Council on 25h April, Deputy Ken Ayers officially handed over his badge of office to George Gillon, who now holds the position of Chief Commoner until April 2014.

The Lord Mayor’s Engagements  Included:

*Receiving Her Majesty The Queen as she arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral for the funeral of Baroness Thatcher. This was the first time the ‘mourning sword’ had been used since 1965 at the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill.
* Hosting lunches with the Lord Mayors of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea.
* A lunch at Mansion House in honour of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, following the confirmation of his election at St Paul’s Cathedral.
* A full range of civic engagements, at which the Lord Mayor set out the City’s tradition of philanthropy;
* A dinner to mark the 550th anniversary of the Ironmongers’ Company.
* Speaking at a large number of business engagements, on countries he will be visiting, such as Nigeria, Japan, as well as EU partners such as Poland. The Taioseach of Ireland also spoke at a conference at Mansion House.
* Musical events, in aid of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, including a concert at St Bartholomew the Great and a concert on the Coronation Organ at Mansion House.
* Hosted a breakfast during ‘Responsible Business Week’, an initiative run by Business in the Community, which provided the Lord Mayor with an opportunity to promote the role of the City in developing social investment, apprenticeships, and supporting the rest of the economy.

On 16 April, the Lord Mayor hosted the annual dinner at Mansion House for the diplomatic community in London, at which the Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon

William Hague, made a keynote speech, paying tribute to Margaret Thatcher’s legacy and ability to show leadership in the world. He also spoke of the foreign policy challenges facing the UK in the world today including the future of Europe, the Middle East and Syria. However, he was optimistic about the UK’s role in the world, “Our country is at its best in the world, and it serves its interests best, when we combine this strong international engagement with an equally strong commitment to freedom, human rights and democracy.” Lord Mayor’s speech is available here
.