Michael Ignatieff is coming to the National Liberal Club

Michael Ignatieff, leader of the Canadian Liberal Party - and sometime British arts broadcaster and "thinking woman's crumpet" - is coming to speak at the National Liberal Club.

He is giving the 2009 Isaiah Berlin Lecture - appropriately, since he has published an excellent biography of Berlin.

Unfortunately, as announced by the Liberal International website, it is not an event for the masses:

The event will be black tie.

Tickets are £120 each. For interested corporate sponsors, we are offering a sponsorship package for £2500. This will include seating at a table for 10, prominent branding of the corporation, and an opportunity for the table host to meet Mr Ignatieff at a small and intimate gathering before the main event.

As Basil Fawlty once put it: "No riff-raff."