By: CHRIS GRAEME
THE NEW British Ambassador to Portugal, Alexander Ellis, was one of the guests of honour at the BPCC (British Portuguese Chamber of Commerce) Christmas lunch held at the Hotel Sheraton in Lisbon on Friday.
The youngest ever British ambassador to have presented his credentials to the Portuguese state, Alexander Ellis has been a British government advisor to the European Union as well as a history lecturer.
Alexander Ellis said that he had on December 13 met the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and had attended the Treaty of Lisbon, which had been “a great occasion” and added that Gordon Brown had had a “a very constructive meeting with José Sócrates” after the ceremony.
“They see the world in quite similar ways in some respects, and one of the ways is that they see the need for open countries and open economies, open to business and open to ideas and that is one of the most important themes to me, and I hope to promote that here in this country,” he added.
Sporting fan
Ambassador Alexander Ellis said that he had encountered a “tremendous stroke of luck” in coming back to Portugal, which he loved and knew reasonably well. “I had a huge slice of luck because I married my wife who is Portuguese, and I had one very, very bad slice of luck which is that I support Sporting,” he joked.
The ambassador also said he was here to “help British businesses” in Portugal and help Portuguese companies that wanted to invest in the United Kingdom – “that’s why I’m here, so please use me in this respect and we work very closely with the Chamber and have a very good relationship and I hope that will long continue,” he concluded.
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