On the evening of the 18 February  the Lord Mayor hosted  the speech by the Deputy PM Nick Clegg at the Mansion House and I attended . In fact the Lord Mayor himself was away overseas on business representing the benefits of financial services in the UK and the evening was hosted by a Past Lord Mayor Sir David Howard . The Deputy PM's speech was most interesting in that he was promoting the ideas of a resurgent economy being based on  a network  of more independent and successful cities throughout the country . This would not to detract from the role that the City of London plays in the nation's finances but would strengthen it . He drew analogies with the USA ,Germany and Japan .This was a launch of the Government's City Deals.