Poilievre to deliver major keynote speech abroad arguing for closer integration with U.K. and allies

LONDON, U.K. — Pierre Poilievre will deliver his first keynote speech abroad as Conservative leader on Tuesday in London during which he is expected to advocate for closer ties and fewer trade barriers between Canada and the U.K. in the face of U.S. tariffs.

Poilievre will be delivering the annual Margaret Thatcher speech during an invitation-only event on Tuesday evening at the Centre for Policy Studies, a London-based conservative think tank.

“I’ll be laying out a very detailed plan of how we can better integrate our security and economy with like minded-democracies that share our traditions and our values,” Poilievre told reporters, including National Post, while standing on Westminster Bridge on Tuesday afternoon.

The speech is expected to expand on a shorter one delivered Monday evening to a small gathering of Conservative MPs, supporters and business people at the Carlton Club, a swanky private club that is considered the birthplace of the U.K.’s Conservative Party.

During the soirée, he argued for a closer alliance of CANZUK countrie s (Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand) and promised that a Conservative government would lower barriers to trade and mobility between the bloc.

Before the speech Tuesday evening, Poilievre met with various British politicians, according to his official schedule.

His office has so far refused to provide a list of who he was meeting with, though Poilievre told National Post he was sitting down with U.K. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch as he entered a building of MP offices next to Westminster Tuesday morning.

“We’re talking about how we can make our respective countries stronger at home and unbreakable abroad,” he said.

Speaking to reporters from Westminster Bridge later in the day, he said he also met with the Conservative Shadow Foreign Minister Priti Patel and other members of the U.K. House of Commons and House of Lords.

In an interview with English newspaper The Times before heading to London, Poilievre also said he expected to meet with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and meetings with “some” governing Labour party representatives.

On Tuesday afternoon in London, he told reporters that Farage was not on his meeting schedule at that point.

Neither Farage nor Bedenoch’s offices immediately responded to a request for comment.

But with immigration dominating the political discussion in the U.K. and chatter abounding about re-uniting Britain’s two splintered right-wing parties (Reform UK and Conservative), both issues are likely to arise in Poilievre’s chats.

When asked if any conservatives had sought advice on how to “unite the right” the way Stephen Harper had done with the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties in 2003, Poilievre smirked but demurred.

“They’ll have to figure that one out for themselves,” he responded twice.

Poilievre also confirmed that he’d discussed immigration during the trip, but did not offer any detail.

“We basically have talked about the need to have safe and secure countries that protect their citizens, and that’s how you make a country stronger at home and capable of being unbreakable abroad,” he said.

More to come.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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