Europe: the Liberal Commitment

Why have the Liberal Democrats, and their Liberal and SDP predecessors, always supported the European project and membership of the EU?

The historical origins of the Liberal commitment to Europe originate in the nineteenth century. The next Liberal Democrat History Group meeting will feature a discussion on the issues with Anthony Howe (Professor of Modern History, University of East Anglia; author of Free Trade and Liberal England, 1846-1946 and editor of the collected letters of the leading British radical Richard Cobden) and Eugenio Biagini (Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, University of Cambridge; author of works on Gladstonian liberalism, the Italian Risorgimento, and Ireland). Chair: Baroness Julie Smith (Director of the European Centre and Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Cambridge).

6.15pm - 7.30pm, Sunday 16 September, Sandringham Suite, Hilton Brighton Metropole, King's Road, Brighton, BN1. This is a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat conference, but no conference pass is necessary to attend.