RIVER CITY COULD GET BRITISH 'SISTER-CITY'

James Gray said Cape Girardeau reminds him of his own home town in England.

"Perhaps we should sit up a `sister-city' relationship," said Gray.

A member of the British Parliament, Gray was speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Coffee Friday at the Show Me Center.

Gray, a Conservative Party member of parliament, was the guest of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, who was also a speaker at Friday's event.

Another guest at the coffee was Ronald C. Gladney, A St. Louis attorney, who is Emerson's fiancee

Emerson announced her marriage plans recently during a telephone conference call to reporters.

Gray and Emerson agreed that the two cities should look into forming a relationship.

The two towns -- Chippenham in Wiltshire County, about 100 miles West of London, and Cape Girardeau -- have a lot in common, said Gray.

"Chippenham is an agricultural district," said Gray. The city is about 35,000 in population and each year, hosts an `agricultural show,' as the British refer to fairs, such as the Southeast Missouri District Fair, held here each year.

Gray, who is making his second trip to Southeast Missouri, was in the area last fall, during a two-week cultural exchange coordinated by the British-American Parliamentary Group that lets U.S. and British lawmakers get a firsthand look at each other's government.

Emerson later visited the Wiltshire area in England.

Gray is in United States this month for speaking engagements in St. Louis, Cape Girardeau and West Plains.

Friday, his comments touched briefly on the NATO bombing of Kosovo, relationships between the U.S. and Great Britain, and the new United European Nation.

"The U.S. and Great Britain are great nations," said Gray. The relationship between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan was good, and currently prime minister Tony Blair and president Bill Clinton are working together."

About the Nato bombings, Gray said "I think it's right that we did something about the Kosovo situation, but, I don't see the problem being solved just by bombing."

Gray is not in support of England joining the United European Nations. "There are many nations in the United European Nation, and they all have big differences," said Gray. "I don't favor a single currency for the new nation."