7 AM, Willem starts his day at St Pancras International, taking the Eurostar from London to Brussels to go to the European Union to have meetings there with representatives and members of ALDE.

10:30 AM Willem arrives in Brussels and goes in a meeting with Hans van Baalen, President of ALDE, talking about the future of the United Kingdom in Europe.

After the meeting, Willem steps outside and greets some of the press that has accompanied him to Brussels.

Willem: “I’m grateful to have a very productive meeting with Hans van Baalen, we have known each other before and spoken before on the European Union and other matters. The Liberal Democrats have always believed in the European Union and we want to be close to our partners in here. The EU can give us so much prosperity and even though we have left the EU we must ensure that we cooperate with the EU and remain close to them. Our goal, as Liberal Democrats, is to come to a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU, one that will keep us close to the EU so we can continue to serve our people as best as we can. To achieve this, we are going to remain active in ALDE and have regular meetings with Hans van Baalen and other people within ALDE to retain our active involvement in ALDE.’

Press: How does it feel to be back here in Brussels?

W: It feels good to be back here in Brussels. As former Foreign Secretary and Leader of the Classical Liberals, I have been here on a regular basis, having meetings with other Foreign Secretaries and with ALDE members in my short period as Leader of the Classical Liberals.

P: To ensure this comprehensive FTA with the EU you have to be in Government, how are you going to accomplish this?

W: Well, of course, being in Government will help to reach our goals on the FTA, we have been in Government a few months ago, which abruptly ended, unfortunately. We have been able to have talks with ALDE and other parties in Europe to ensure that we keep in touch with them and to see how a future relationship with the EU can be established for the UK if we end up in Government again.

P: What will you for the rest of the day?

W: I have a meeting scheduled with Sophie in ‘t Veld, a Dutch politician in the European Parliament. We will further discuss Europe and how our two parties can co-operate in Europe, but also in bilateral relationships.

Willem steps in the car, towards the European Parliament, where his next meeting will be and afterwards he has a meeting with some of the assembled press.

W: It was a good meeting today with Sophie, we have discussed a lot of things surrounding the co-operation between D66 and the Liberal Democrats and how we can co-operate further on strengthening the bond between us and the Netherlands. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are natural partners and allies and have been for a long time, we have had the same goals when it came to the European Union and have always fought together to get to our goal. D66 and the Liberal Democrats share a lot of values and we must help each other where we can, even though we’re not in the European Union anymore.

S: I wholeheartedly agree with Willem on this issue. We have been natural allies, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, but also our two parties. Our countries might have driven a bit further away from each other, but our goals in the world are still very similar. As we are both internationally driven parties that see the good in globalism, we have to make sure that we help each other in this fight and we are glad to do so. That’s why we are going to have further such meetings in the future, to ensure that our parties and countries can co-operate on issues that we always have.

Afterwards, Willem got the train back to London to meet up with other Liberal Democrats and to further the cause for a close relationship with the EU, as is favourable for the United Kingdom. When he arrived back in London he helped to hand out flyers on St Pancras International to British citizens, to talk to them on the importance of the EU.