Am at the Congress of the Party of European Socialists in Porto - an event that will no doubt be largely ignored in the British media (unless there is a tabloid photographer trying to catch people out at the post-conference reception!)

Among the speeches, I particularly enjoyed the contrasting styles of Segolene Royal and John Prescott. Sego was a model of French elegence, saying not very much but so very smoothly. John's style and unique way with words is well known, but accentuated by the fact that he had to curtail a 10 minute speech into 5 (always a challenge for the interpreters) and, in the middle, actually lost a tooth! His speech was well applauded (though not the standing ovation Sego got). It dwelt on climate change - an area where Britain is actually leading Europe into stronger common commitments to cut emmissions.

The conference gathers some 1000 socialists from across Europe (and beyond - Howard Dean was there from America) including about 30 from the British section, namely the Labour party. Labour is respected rather than popular, but it is interesting to see how widespread "New" Labour ideas have become, displayed not least in the speech of the young Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.

Curiously, the town is full of Brits in the form of footballl supporters there to see their team play FC Porto in the Champions League. I doubt they've enjoyed the trip: torrential rain, a goalless draw, and their team is ...Arsenal. Poor devils!