Pippa speaks at Cambridge Europe Day 2025 rally

Pippa spoke at the Cambridge Europe Day rally on 10th May. Read her speech below, or watch the video at the bottom of this article

Dear friends, amigos, mes amis, amichi, meine Freunde, Gamarjoba Megobrebo!

Yesterday Parliament lit up for Europe Day. On Europe Day, we don’t just celebrate peace, unity, and cooperation across our continent—we stand up for them.

Born from the rubble of war, the European project was built on hope: a hope that countries could work together, not against each other. Built on negotiated treaties between countries for cooperation to avoid conflict. For decades, that vision brought prosperity, stability, and shared values across borders. It brought people together. It brought us together.

But today, here in the UK, we find ourselves adrift. A country that was once at the heart of Europe is now standing apart—our global influence diminished, our businesses strangled with red tape, and our young people denied the freedoms their parents - I, we - once took for granted: the right to travel, work, study, live and love anywhere across the EU bloc. Not to mention the financial hit that we continue to suffer. The negative impact on our economy, a long-term impact of 4% of the economy, £100 billion. Talk about black holes!! One that has somehow been taboo to mention and only recently is being acknowledged by the media.

Let’s be honest: this is not where we should be. And crucially, it is not where we have to be.

We Liberal Democrats have never walked away from Europe.  And we never will. And we stand beside all of you gathered here today, strong in the belief that we are stronger together.

We believe in rebuilding what was lost, renewing what was broken, and reimagining our future—not as outsiders pleading at the door, but as trusted partners, ready to cooperate once again.

That’s why I’m proud that this year, my fellow MP and Europe Spokesperson, James McCleary, introduced the Youth Mobility Scheme Bill—a policy the Liberal Democrats have fought for since day one. A scheme that would once again allow young people from the UK and EU to live, work, and learn across borders.

This is not just a bureaucratic fix—it is a promise. A promise to a generation who deserve more than closed doors and cancelled dreams.

And the Government has started to notice not in small part due to our relentless Liberal Democrat pressure and the fact that public polling has made it politically impossible to keep ignoring the damage that has been done.

This is just the beginning.

Since being elected in force as the largest 3rd party in a century, we Liberal Democrats have been calling for stronger trade and defence relations with Europe. We have welcomed Keir Starmer’s international efforts to create a Coalition of the Willing among EU and commonwealth states for the defence of Ukraine. We hope to see strong results from their meeting today. We are calling for a formal UK-EU Defence and Security Pact. Because in a world shaken by Putin’s aggression and rising authoritarianism, our security depends on standing with Europe, not apart from it. 

Britain’s steadfast support for Ukraine fills me with pride. Greater pride still to know how so many families here in South Cambridgeshire have opened up their homes to those fleeing Putin’s brutal war: the highest number nationally for a district in the Homes for Ukraine programme. But we support Ukraine as part of a larger force, as Europeans. The Coalition of the Willing is European at its core. We know the value of peace. We know the cost of war. And we know that defending democracy is not a national effort, and cannot be one that Ukraine or Georgia face alone—it’s a shared one.

In the last few weeks this has become more important than ever with the unimaginable happening: a US President unilaterally tearing down the post World War order. President Trump’s executive order upending decades of American internationalism that embedded U.S. power in multilateral institutions designed to support a peaceful, prosperous, and just world and to facilitate cooperation on shared global problems. He has already withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement and the UN Human Rights Council, withdrawing from the WHO and commitments under the Refugee Convention.

We never imagined we’d see a US President threaten to annex a NATO ally with military force like he has with Denmark—but that is the world we face with Trump back on the scene. The answer is not nostalgic nationalism, nor lapdog fawning around our “special relationship” with the US. The answer is strength through unity.

Strategic, modern, European unity. The kind of strength that Trump does real deals with.

Liberal Democrats are equally determined to rebuild our economic relationship with Europe. The disastrous economic consequences of Brexit have been compounded by Trump’s tariff war.

Some of the right-wing tabloids are this weekend hailing this week’s UK-US trade deal as a product of Brexit. I don’t believe it is. Not only, because the scale and scope is so small compared with our trade with the EU, but also because what has happened is that, rather than acting as an Economic Coalition of the Willing, as Ed Davey has called for - and which Trump really doesn’t want to happen because it makes us stronger - the UK has appeased Trump’s bullying economic aggression. Yes, we have avoided imminent loss of jobs in the steel and car industries - but these were put at risk due to the Trump tariffs. What we have done is to accept a deal which leaves the UK worse off than before Trump launched his offensive, with higher tariffs on our exports and concessions to the US on beef imports and US company taxes - and with text on food standards that could risk our deal with the EU at the summit next week. Next week we need to be joining forces with the EU to face him down and use strong, collective negotiating strength to achieve a fair, long-term trading arrangement that is economically beneficial and respects our social and environmental values.

Because Britain’s future lies not in retreat, but in reach.

At next week’s UK-EU Summit next week, we Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to take a more ambitious approach to those talks—one rooted in realism rather than fear. We have listed 5 immediate priorities for Ministers:

• Commit to a comprehensive Youth Mobility Scheme, recognising its value not only for cultural exchange, but for addressing urgent labour shortages across sectors like hospitality, health, and construction.
• Pursue a Defence and Security Pact with the EU, to strengthen cooperation against common threats—be it cyberattacks, disinformation, or aggression from hostile states. Our national and continental security demands nothing less.
• Agree a comprehensive veterinary and food standards agreement and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. Those measures would immediately remove significant barriers to British businesses.
• Commit to UK-EU energy cooperation for energy supply security to reduce reliance on fossil fuels from despots like Putin, while at the same time reducing carbon emissions. The EU is expected to present a roadmap for ending Russian energy imports this May. Regulatory certainty is necessary for the ramping up of renewables and the EU framework can provide that. Last week’s summit in London on the future of energy security was an important step and we need to go the whole way.
• Open negotiations on a bespoke Customs Union, to reduce trade barriers, protect British businesses, and safeguard jobs across the country. The paperwork mountain our exporters now face is not patriotic—it’s self-inflicted harm. 

This is a moment for leadership and rapid action, not tentative steps hampered by discredited Brexit red lines.

Because when we look beyond the spin, the truth is clear: the current deal isn’t working. Our businesses are paying the price. Our young people are losing out. We are all losing out. Our international influence is shrinking. And many, many people I talk to are really fearful of what happens next in this extremely volatile world that seems suddenly so unsafe.

The Liberal Democrats have a plan. A four-point plan for rebuilding stable relations with Europe:

• securing sector-specific work visas,
• establishing mutual recognition of professional qualifications, incl veterinary and plant health
• agreeing partnerships with EU agencies (like Erasmus+ and Horizon), and cooperation with climate change and intelligence sharing programmes
• ultimately aiming for the UK to rejoin the Single Market and then returning the UK to the EU where we belong.

Because this is not about old battles—it’s about new opportunities.

It’s about restoring the future for our young people, stability for our economy and the climate, and Britain’s place in the world.

Thank you.