The Deputy PM joined the News Agents as he said that ‘our future is inextricably linked to the European Union’
David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister, appeared to break ranks with Labour over Brexit.
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Alamy
David Lammy has refused to rule out the prospect of Britain rejoining the EU as he admitted the union holds the potential to ‘boost UK growth’.
The Deputy Prime Minister refused to rule out reversing Brexit on seven separate occasions when speaking in an exclusive interview with the News Agents podcast, as he insisted that leaving the EU “badly damaged our economy”.
During an interview on Thursday, the Deputy PM was seen to back a growing chorus of Labour voices as he insisted that the UK should consider closer ties with Brussels.
Admitting that rejoining the customs union was not “currently” the Government’s official policy, Mr Lammy did concede that the growth potential of rejoining was “self-evident”.
Mr Lammy, asked whether he would like to see Britain rejoin the customs union, said: “That is not currently our policy. That’s not currently where we are.
“But you can see countries like Turkey with a customs union seemingly benefiting and seeing growth in their economy, and again, that’s self-evident.”
Speaking on the benefits of the customs union, Mr Lammy admitted that other EU nations had “seen growth” as a result of membership.
He joins recent calls from a growing list of Labour MPs in support of rejoining the union, including the likes of Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who demanded Labour undo “the economic damage done by Brexit”.
It comes as the OBR forecasts that leaving the EU will reduce productivity in Britain by 4 per cent in the long run.
However, Darren Jones, Sir Keir’s chief secretary, appeared to hit back at Mr Lammy’s suggestions.
Speaking on Thursday in the Commons, he insisted that Labour’s policy would be announced in Parliament and not “on podcasts”.
Speaking with the News Agents, Mr Lammy insisted: “It’s self-evident that leaving the EU badly damaged our economy, took us out of an important marketplace and created serious friction.
“Untruths were being peddled.”
The comments came as the justice secretary told LBC that criminals are ‘playing the system’ by opting for jury trials in a bid to prolong their time on bail.
Screen grab of Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy making a statement on criminal court reform in the House of Commons, London.
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Speaking with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, David Lammy said juries form the “cornerstone” of our court system but insisted he wants to “bring the backlog down” amid lengthy delays.
“I’m absolutely clear, juries are important, they will always be important,” Mr Lammy told Nick, adding that the fundamental issue remains that “we need to recruit more magistrates”.
It comes as the justice secretary is set to announce plans to scrap jury trials for either-way cases – cases that aren’t categorised as the most serious crimes – including assaults and burglaries in a bid to tackle the massive crown court backlog.