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Starter: Smoked Haddock Souffle with a Chive Sauce

Main: Haricot of Braised Shank of Lamb with Winter Vegetables

Desert: Tart Tatin with Calvados Ice Cream

White Wine: Chablis, Domaine Seguinot-Bordet (2009)

Red Wine: Bourgogne Pinot Noir Cuvee, Louis Latour (2009)

Coffee and chocolates will be served after lunch.

Vegetarian option

Starter: Montgomery Cheddar Cheese Souffle

Main: Frittata of Roast Peppers, Squash and Ricotta with Roquette

Ticket prices are £90 (£75 plus VAT) for non LPC members and £85 (£70.83 plus VAT for LPC members.

Guest speaker to be announced!

To purchase a ticket, please contact Kate as soon as possible as places are limited.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.261499380569593.84734.120011298051736&type=1

Politicians seeking to muzzle journalists and a free press should take care to ‘treat us with the respect we deserve,’ he said as he also fired the starting gun for the Journalists’ Charity’s 150^th anniversary friend- and fund-raising campaign.

Lord Rothermere, patron of this year’s London Press Club Ball and president of the Journalists’ Charity for which it was raising funds, used his short speech to mount a vigorous defence of freedom of expression and to hammer home the vital role of an unshackled media in a modern democracy.

Against the backdrop of the Leveson Inquiry into the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World, which is also examining the  wider relationship between the media, police and politicians,  he said the Press  was  ‘locked in horns with the political establishment’  and having to navigate ‘choppy waters’.

As a result, there had never been a more important time for journalists ‘to stand up, and remind everybody what it is that we are all actually here to do’, he told the audience of 400 senior journalists, editors and executives.

Lord Rothermere, chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust said: ‘Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, the support of a free, open and accountable democracy… these are all things that up to now this country has taken for granted.

‘But be warned, these are not values that survive simply due to the fact that they exist.

‘These are values that only survive, like anything that is precious to us, if we look after them, If we
value them and if we respect them.’

Speaking at the Ball in the  Natural History Museum on Thursday October 13, he said: ’I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that currently we are locked in horns with the political establishment as to the pattern of our future…locked in horns with a political establishment whose daily heartbeat and consequent survival is sustained through the channels of communication that we provide.’

His message to politicians was: ’Be careful to treat us with the respect that we deserve.

‘Don’t forget that more often than not, it is left to us, the press industry in this country, to stand up for people up and down this land against an often heavy-handed political establishment.’

He said UK has ‘the best journalists in the world’ and a journalism which is ‘the envy of the modern world’ but added: ’As we become embroiled in a debate regards the workings of our industry and its future, it is important that we all work together, we think together and we speak clearly with one voice – reminding people that they live in a country where freedom of expression is the defining aspect of our democracy.

‘And whilst, like our political peers, we are not always perfect, what we stand for and provide is a way of life that for many people around the world could only ever be regarded as the unattainable dream.’

Among senior media figures present at the London Press Club Ball to hear Lord Rothermere’s speech were Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre; executive director of the Telegraph Media Group Lord Black of Brentwood; Independent on Sunday editor John Mullin; Press Association editor Jonathan Grun; and Society of Editors’ executive director Bob Satchwell, plus Journalists’ Charity Chairman Bill Hagerty and other Trustees.

More than 400 of Britain’s leading journalists, media executives and VIP guests will be able to bid for a year’s driving of the award-winning new Range Rover Evoque .

Funds raised will be used to support the Journalists’ Charity which was set up nearly 150 years ago to help journalists and their families who fall on hard times – in print, on air and online.

This year’s allocation of the stylish, trend-setting ‘baby’ Range Rover is already sold out.

So a winning bid in the charity auction will be the best chance to jump the queue to get behind the wheel of the luxury Evoque sports utility vehicle.

The star auction prize Evoque is provided courtesy of British luxury car-maker Jaguar Land Rover. It has already been named Auto Express ‘Car of the Year’.

As part of its support for the Ball, Jaguar Land Rover is also auctioning a special Jaguar driving experience at the world-famous Nürburgring racing circuit in Germany. And it is making a generous £15,000 donation to the Journalists’ Charity.

This year’s charity fund-raising London Press Club Ball is being hosted by TV and news presenter Moira Stuart in the Great Hall of the capital’s Natural History Museum on Thursday October 13, 2011.

For the fifth year in succession, Barclays is the main sponsor while Jaguar Land Rover is the automotive sponsor. PaddyPower is – for the second year – sponsoring the champagne reception and airline easyJet is sponsoring the super raffle.

The Ball is a glittering upmarket event supported by the major newspaper groups and attended by chief executives, editors, journalists and television presenters and programme makers from the major national newspapers and TV companies.

London Press Club Ball chairman Philippa Kennedy OBE said: “This is the seventh time the London Press Club has run the annual press ball and it has so far has raised more than £200,000 for the Journalists’ Charity.

“The highlight of the evening is the fabulous ‘money can’t buy’ auction which includes fabulous exotic holidays and events.”

Journalists’ Charity chairman Bill Hagerty said: “The London Press Club Ball has become firmly established in the UK media’s social calendar – and it’s all in a good cause.

“The Journalists’ Charity has been helping journalists in need and their families for nearly 150 years. It is the industry’s own charity for those who are working, or have worked, in print, on air or online.”

A spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover said: ‘Jaguar Land Rover is pleased to be supporting the London Press Club Ball in support of the Journalists’ Charity at an exciting time for the company and for the launch of the new Range Rover Evoque.’

Consumer Journalist of the Year: Tricia Phillips (Daily Mirror)

Business Journalist of the Year: Chris Blackhurst (London Evening Standard)

Broadcast Journalist of the Year: Bill Neely (ITN)

Scoop of the Year: Sunday Times for corruption at FIFA

Edgar Wallace Trophy: Tom Utley (Daily Mail)

Daily Newspaper of the Year: London Evening Standard

Sunday Newspaper of the Year: Sunday Telegraph

LPC Chairman Steve Oram said: “We are delighted to be honoured by the Duchess in this way. Our connection with the Royal Family goes back many years with both the Duke of Edinburgh and the late Queen Mother being honorary members of the Club.

“More recently we were immensely proud to be able to welcome Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to our exhibition of 60 years of Royal Front Pages in 2007. The Duchess of Cornwall’s husband, the Prince of Wales, also joined us in 2002 to mark the 300th anniversary of Fleet Street as the home of journalism.”

For full details, see here.

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BBC Radio 4′s Moneybox presenter Paul Lewis will be giving a brief talk and will take questions from guests.

There will be a complimentary drink on arrival, with a cash bar available. There will also be a raffle prize draw for an Ultra HD Flip video camera. Please bring your business cards to enter the draw on arrival.

Tickets to the event are free but space is limited, so please let the office know asap if you would like to attend.

Following the mixed grill lunch, Carole will be ‘grilled’ with questions submitted by the audience. Ticket prices: £22.50 for LPC Members (and NUS cardholders) or £26.50 for non-members. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the LPC office.
Start Time: 12:30
Date: 2011-03-03