Starmer must ‘fire starting gun’ on customs union as he meets EU leaders – Davey
Sir Keir Starmer must “fire the starting gun” on creating a new customs union with the EU, the Prime Minister has been told ahead of a meeting with European leaders.
Such a move will put “rocket boosters” on the UK economy and will “strengthen our hand” against Donald Trump’s US, which has imposed tariffs on its nearest neighbours, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told the BBC.
Diplomacy
On Monday, the Prime Minister will join European Council leaders at an informal retreat ahead of an EU-UK summit later this year.
The focus of the dinner he will attend is expected to be defence co-operation.
But the Lib Dems have called for him to begin talks with the trade bloc on deeper ties.
The Government has ruled out joining the customs union or single market, declaring them both “red lines” in its negotiations with European leaders.
However, it has left open the possibility of joining a continent-wide trade deal called the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) convention, as Sir Keir continues with his aim to “reset” the UK-EU relationship.
The deal, which would allow tariff-free movement of some goods across Europe, as well as some nations in North Africa and the Levant, should be a “first step” to re-joining the customs union, the Lib Dems have said.
Their leader Sir Ed has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, calling on her to commission the Office for Budget Responsibility to assess the impact of a new customs union with the EU on the UK economy.
“The Chancellor is tying herself in knots trying to think up new ways to grow our economy,” Sir Ed told the BBC.
“But there’s a solution right under her nose: a new UK-EU customs union deal that boosts trade for British businesses and raises vital tax revenue for our public services.”
While the Lib Dems are pushing Sir Keir to go further in deepening ties with the EU, the Tories have called on him to not accept further EU influence as he seeks to strengthen the relationship.
The Prime Minister must meet five “tests” to uphold Brexit, Kemi Badenoch said.
Tests
Among the Tory leader’s tests are commitments to: no “backsliding” on free movement or the compulsory transfer of asylum seekers; no new money paid to the EU; and no reduction in fishing rights.
She also urged Sir Keir not to take any rules from the EU as he engaged with the bloc, including dynamic alignment on trade standards, or allowing the European courts to have jurisdiction over UK law.
Nato must have “primacy” when it comes to European security, the Tory leader said in her final test for the PM.
“Five years ago the Conservatives broke the deadlock and got Brexit done,” Mrs Badenoch said.
She added: “We delivered the biggest democratic mandate in our country’s history. Keir Starmer and his Labour party opposed us every step of the way – they tried to cancel the referendum and stop us taking back control.
“Now Keir Starmer and the Labour Government are trying to reopen the divisions of the past and edge us back into the EU. So I’m setting Keir Starmer five tests to make sure he doesn’t undo Brexit.
“These tests will ensure we seize the opportunities of the future and use our independence to grow the British economy. Under my leadership, the Conservatives will always stand up for Britain and fight for our hard-won freedoms.”
A Labour spokesperson described the Brexit “tests” as “yet more hypocrisy from Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives who had eight years to make a success of Brexit but failed”.
They added: “After running an open border experiment that resulted in record high net migration, the Conservatives completely botched the job on Brexit – a record so bad that Kemi Badenoch herself publicly criticised Conservatives’ ‘mistakes’ on Brexit in her first speech as leader.”
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Maybe Davey would like to ask Starmer why an affiliate body of the EU socialist party group was fined recently by EU equivalence of Electoral Commission for providing a donation to the Labour UK affiliated Fabian Society, Starmer is a member, prior to election. The Electoral Commission in UK are interested as it could be seen as a foreign interest donation to a UK political party affiliate. Davey needs to carry out some research on PEM as it is primarily about origin of goods that may include components from other countries and how they are treated by the country selling… Read more »
Watched him today on TV , he completely does not know what he’s both talking and explaining about. It’s all in his head.
“no customs union without freedom of movement” says EU. And no chance of freedom of movement being acceptable in the UK right now.
What if it included the restrictions that were always available but the UK chose not to implement, like the right to return someone without work and restricted access to benefits.
Not acceptable to whom? Just a small collection of elderly Tories I expect.
There’s no sneaky way of doing this. Eventually the hard choices will need to be put to the electorate otherwise the slightest hint of an economic cooperation will be labelled a “betrayal”. A simple ballot that asks voters to choose one: rejoin the economic partnership, pay for healthcare, or abolish retirement. The majority may surprise everyone and throw the olds under the bus which, to be fair, is all that’s needed to make a success of Brexit.
Nobody trusts politicians of any hue to deliver what’s best for country regardless of vote.
This Labour govt have destroyed any vestige of belief in politicians, following on from Tory fantasies aided by Lib Dems 2010 to 2014.
The question only asked about the post-Maastricht ever closer political union. It didn’t ask about the economic partnership that’s much bigger than the EU and was backed by a supermajority in 1975.
If one is a sufficiently ‘anorakish’ person one will find that trade deals do not need to be put to parliament never mind any kind of referendum. You might recall that the disasterous NZ and Australia deal was simply signed off by the Tories and never went to Parliament for ‘approval’. The same is true of the daft Pacific Free Trade area deal. So, if the Starmer regime were to suddenly get a change of heart then they could just do it. Of course the Tories and the Billionaire media would scream, but then they are screaming now at anything… Read more »
I agree any new deal could be legally done without approval from the masses, just as Maastricht under John Major happened without a vote. But this is about politics and without some democratic exercise to counter the 2016 result the sore will never heal and will be poked by Reform then by the Cons once they eventually regroup. The “betrayal” will be milked for decades. But a face-saving preference vote that lets Brexit voters clarify their intentions from a list of all the possible options (not just the one politicians think is right, which will be sold as a stitch-up)… Read more »
As of yet there is no Benefit to people for leaving the E U not one we used to say when i was in the Army you cannot educate pork and those who voted YES still say its good you cannot educate pork