president, one of my colleagues from the house of commons in london, this is nigel kennedy. [laughter] well, mr. speaker, characteristically firm handshake and jovial welcome confirmed two things for me there and then. first of all, he'd never heard of nigel kennedy, but far more distressingly, he sure as hell hadn't heard of me either. [laughter] on that visit the honorable gentleman, whom i'm glad is in his place today -- looking back, i wasn't so glad he was in the place he was in on that occasion that evening -- he and myself were photographed with president mandela. what a wonderful momento keep saning to have. a few months later i was passing through glasgow, my favorite city, and as i always do, i pick up a copy of the glasgow evening times. and front page photo and lead story was that the south african government had confirmed that thing -- [inaudible] would be very much on the preferred list for the latest warship that they were seeking interest in globally. and there was a photo of the honorable gentleman and the president himself with the caption, "local mp ian da