Davey calls for UK to join EU customs union to ‘turbocharge’ economy
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Sir Ed Davey will call for the UK to seek to rejoin the EU customs union to help protect the economy amid concerns about potential trade tariffs under Donald Trump’s incoming US administration. In his first major speech of the year, the Liberal Democrat leader will urge the Labour Government to negotiate a new agreement with Brussels which has at its heart a system for goods to move freely between Britain and the bloc.
Sir Keir Starmer has committed to strengthen ties with the EU and said he wants a “better deal” for Britain post-Brexit, but has repeatedly ruled out rejoining the single market or customs union. It would be a win-win for our country, and I still can’t understand why the Government continues to rule it out.
Experts have warned that securing fewer trade barriers will be challenging in any event without the UK Government being prepared to offer its own concessions. But Sir Ed will argue that negotiating a new “UK-EU customs union” is “the single biggest thing we can do to turbocharge our economy in the medium and long term”.
He is expected to say: “The UK must be far more positive, far more ambitious, and act with far more urgency. “That is why, today, I am calling on the Government to negotiate a brand-new deal with the EU this year. “Not just tinkering around the edges of the botched deal the Conservatives signed four years ago, but negotiating a much better deal for Britain, that has at its heart a new UK-EU customs union, to come into force by 2030 at the latest.”.
