Last week Liberal Democrat European Group LDEG made its first study trip overseas since the pandemic to brave Berlin’s wintery weather. In the past, regular visits to Brussels helped to foster a greater understanding of European politics and develop relations with our sister parties. Germany was chosen as this year’s destination, because of its pivotal role in European affairs and because, post Brexit, we are going to need allies within the EU like our German sister party the FDP – who currently form part of the ‘traffic light’ coalition with the Social Democrats and Greens.

The weather didn’t disappoint – freezing cold temperatures, blue skies, often bright sunshine with intermittent snow showers – and neither did our meetings and political discussions. In order for us to gain an understanding of the German political system and see where each part fits in, we were given tours of the Bundestag -the equivalent of our House of Commons, the Bundesrat – the upper house that represents the regions, and Berlin’s Red Town Hall as the central government of one of Germany’s Federal states.

Everywhere we went we were reminded of Germany’s traumatic recent past – including visits to the Memorials to the Jews and LGBT+ people massacred in the Holocaust, to the sections of the Berlin Wall still standing at Bernauer Strasse and to the former headquarters of the Stasi – East German secret police. Our visit to to the Bundestag took place in the evening exactly 90 years since the Reichstag was set on fire in 1933, an act used by the Nazis to close down Germany’s democratic institutions, which marked the beginning of the years of dictatorship that led to the murder of millions and the atrocities of the Second World War. And on this same date last year Olaf Schulz – the German Chancellor gave his famous ‘Zeitenwende’ speech announcing a greater geopolitical role for Germany in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It became apparent throughout the week, that one of the driving forces behind German politics is the importance of learning from those experiences of the past, in order to never allow them to happen again. Protections were built in to its democratic system, through its constitution, to make its institutions robust against any challenges. We in the UK could learn so much from Germany – especially since Brexit.

After our next General Election, a Labour victory is likely to signal changes to the House of Lords. Whilst the Bundesrat doesn’t offer an exact blueprint for our own reforms, our group were shocked and somewhat embarrassed to be greeted as the first ever official delegation from the UK to visit Germany’s second chamber since its move to Berlin in 1990’s. It symbolised the arrogance of our own political class and their lack of interest in the political system of a neighbouring country – as if there could be anything we could learn from a bunch of foreigners – that is hard to comprehend. But then so was leaving the European Union.

The red carpet welcome we also received from our German sister party, reassured us that the FDP are as keen as ourselves to develop strong relations, and continue working closely in ALDE – the Alliance for Liberals and Democrats in Europe and in Liberal International. Our meetings with their Foreign Affairs , Europe and Brexit, and Energy spokespeople proved that from the War in Ukraine, to relations with China and Russia to combatting the climate emergency – we have much in common, with several opportunities for mutual cooperation. Our German hosts were particularly interested to hear our views on the ‘Windsor Framework’ and how it might impact on our party’s Europe policy.

Other meetings on our itinerary included with the British Embassy, the European Movement, the British Chamber of Commerce, who supplied facts highlighting the adverse impact of Brexit on trade between the UK and Germany, and the British in Germany, who represent 170,000 British citizens now living in Germany and who will all soon be able to vote in UK elections.

On our last day we took the train out to Potsdam to meet with the Friedrich Nauman Foundation – set up to promote liberal thought in Germany and across the world – 80% of whose income comes directly from the German Government. Germany is prepared to invest in the survival of plurality of political thought to an extent that is unimaginable for liberals living in the UK. Our meetings, which could lead to some fruitful projects, took place in the building that housed Harry Truman and the American delegation to the Potsdam Conference at the end of the Second World War. History is never far away in Berlin !

If the aim of our trip was to develop a greater understanding of Germany, the problems it is facing and how it’s political system works – it was a great success. And now that the UK is outside the EU we need, more than ever, to find ways to reconnect and develop new links with countries like Germany – especially for us as a political party with internationalism at its core. In true Lib Dem fashion, we carried on our discussions long into the evenings over dinner, sampling Berlin’s fine food, washed down with a few glasses of local beer. All on the trip came away with great memories, having made new friends, contacts and knowledge that can help our party and our country.

* David Chalmers is Chair of Federal International Relations Committee and leads the Lib Dems ALDE Delegation