{"id":614978,"date":"2025-12-06T01:57:46","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614978\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T01:57:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:57:46","slug":"david-lammy-opens-a-can-of-worms-over-eu-customs-union-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614978\/","title":{"rendered":"David Lammy \u2018opens a can of worms\u2019 over EU customs union"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the moment that David Lammy came perilously close to saying the quiet bit out loud. <\/p>\n

Perhaps lulled into a false sense of security, the deputy prime minister moved decisively this week beyond Labour\u2019s stated position on Brexit.<\/p>\n

Rejoining the EU customs union, he suggested, was moving back onto Labour\u2019s political agenda a decade since the vote to leave. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not currently our policy. That\u2019s not currently where we are,\u201d he began cautiously. But then he added: \u201cYou can see countries like Turkey with a customs union seemingly benefiting and seeing growth in their economy. That\u2019s self-evident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushed on his personal view, Lammy burst out laughing, telling The News Agents podcast: \u201cThat would be big headlines. That I\u2019m not going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Lammy, making headlines was exactly what he did by becoming the first cabinet minister to publicly suggest that rejoining the customs union<\/a> could be in Britain\u2019s national interest. <\/p>\n

There was frustration in Downing Street with Lammy\u2019s failure to stick within the guardrails of the official line \u2014 that Britain wants a closer relationship with the EU but will not join a customs union. However, given Starmer\u2019s weakened authority, and his friendship with Lammy, nobody is going to publicly rebuke him. <\/p>\n

His comments also accurately reflect a wider conversation that is going on in senior Labour circles about whether the party needs to be less cautious about Brexit.<\/p>\n

Some, like Lammy, have argued that Labour\u2019s next manifesto should contain a pledge to negotiate a new bespoke trading relationship with the EU, one that would involve Britain\u2019s membership of the customs union.<\/p>\n

Baroness Shafik, the prime minister\u2019s chief economic adviser, even suggested bringing it forward as a potential growth measure in the budget. <\/p>\n

\"Minouche<\/p>\n

Baroness Shafik<\/p>\n

JASON ALDEN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Starmer, who was shadow Brexit secretary during Labour\u2019s anguished internal debate on its stance after the 2016 referendum, is not there yet. But he does have a newfound enthusiasm for talking about the subject. <\/p>\n

On Monday the prime minister went full white tie and addressed the Lady Mayor\u2019s banquet in the City. While he respected Brexit, \u201chow it was sold and delivered was wrong\u201d, he said. \u201cWild promises were made to the British people and not fulfilled. We are still dealing with the consequences today, in our economy and in trust \u2014 in the degradation of political debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"British<\/p>\n

Sir Keir Starmer speaks during the Lady Mayor\u2019s banquet at the Guildhall in London<\/p>\n

CHRIS J RATCLIFFE\/REUTERS<\/p>\n

In No 10 the view is that the public is ready for a new conversation about Brexit. Polling suggests that Britain is no longer the same nation that voted by 52 per cent to 48 to leave. In one YouGov survey almost two thirds of voters wanted closer ties with the European Union. And negotiations with Brussels are already under way. <\/p>\n

By the end of next year the government hopes to have two issues resolved \u2014 closer alignment on agricultural standards and a youth mobility scheme<\/a> that could enable tens of thousands of young Europeans to come to the UK. <\/p>\n

Starmer believes the change of mood presents an opportunity to portray Nigel Farage as the man who delivered Brexit then walked away, whose \u201ceasy slogans and easy promises turned to dust\u201d. <\/p>\n

The perceived failure to deliver on the promises of Brexit comes up regularly in Labour\u2019s focus groups. Senior Labour figures believe that Farage is weak on Brexit and that his claim to be able to fundamentally renegotiate the deal is a fantasy. The reality, they argue, is that Farage would prompt a trade war, pushing up food prices and putting jobs at risk.<\/p>\n

Starmer is expected to ratchet up the rhetoric next year. In an interview with The Economist this week he suggested that the prospect of Farage in No 10 was the stuff of nightmares.<\/p>\n

\u201cI often say: I\u2019m pragmatic, I want a Labour government, I\u2019m leading a Labour government, I\u2019m proud of the change Labour governments bring about,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if there is a Conservative government, I can sleep at night. If there was a right-wing government in the United Kingdom, that would be a different proposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Farage government, Starmer said, would \u201cdo huge damage to our country, to our society, to our global standing and destroy much of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nigel<\/p>\n

Nigel Farage<\/p>\n

ANDREW HARRER\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

But as Lammy\u2019s comments demonstrate, there is a delicate line between pushing for a closer relationship with the EU and castigating Brexit. <\/p>\n

While Starmer is attempting to play the man not the ball<\/a>, focusing on the way Brexit was delivered rather than the vote itself, others have shown much less caution in their rhetoric. Some sounded almost gleeful in doing so, for instance Stephen Kinnock, a minister who campaigned for a second referendum, calling it a \u201chuge act of economic self-harm\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anthony Wells, the global head of politics at YouGov, said voters had moved decisively against Brexit in recent years but cautioned that they might not like the reality of a protracted renegotiation with the EU.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cYou have to remember that even back in the 2016 referendum the public was split 52 to 48 per cent on whether we should leave the EU at all and since then the mood has shifted decisively against Brexit. There is now majority support for a closer relationship with Europe, including in areas such as the single market and customs union, albeit to a lesser extent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is whether, when it came to it, voters would really want to open the can of worms that such a change in approach would involve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rachel<\/p>\n

The UK-EU summit at Lancaster House in London in May<\/p>\n

JASON ALDEN\/EPA<\/p>\n

Inside the government, there is a realisation that any wider deal would not be straightforward. Even Starmer\u2019s more modest plans for a reset with Brussels by aligning the UK with the EU\u2019s animal and plant health rules have become bogged down in complicated technical details that are hard to resolve and sometimes politically sensitive.<\/p>\n

Whitehall figures complain that at a political level, the EU is not focused on the talks, leaving it to officials who cannot make decisions and are not addressing some of the crucial issues where compromises will need to be found. <\/p>\n

The UK is looking for opt-outs in areas, such as the ability to pursue genetic modification technology and wants to ensure ing that the government\u2019s new growth measures, in areas such as planning reforms, do not fall foul of EU rules. But progress is painfully slow, and the economic upsides of the deal will be incremental rather than game-changing. <\/p>\n

The Centre for European Reform think tank has suggested that the reset would raise GDP by only about 0.3 per cent in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Daniel Finkelstein: Logical step for Labour is to reverse Brexit<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

One area which could move the dial economically is youth mobility. The EU is demanding that the planned \u201cyouth experience scheme\u201d should have no limit on numbers, but with an emergency clause if there is a sudden surge.<\/p>\n

Some in government, particularly the Treasury, do not object to the plan, which they believe could help offset some of the economic headwinds by restricting migration elsewhere. But the Home Office under Shabana Mahmood is said to be against it, and there is so far no agreement on the UK\u2019s red lines in the talks. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the government\u2019s biggest challenge in attempting to weaponise Brexit against Farage lies in the very charge it is making. The accusation from Starmer and other ministers is that Farage created Brexit then walked away. <\/p>\n

Farage\u2019s allies point to the fact he was not an MP. It was the Tories who delivered Brexit, and he has been a vocal critic. When he gets into No 10, they say, he will \u201cfinish the job himself\u201d. At this rate Starmer\u2019s nightmare could well end up becoming a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the moment that David Lammy came perilously close to saying the quiet bit out loud. Perhaps…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,1699],"class_list":{"0":"post-614978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-european-union"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115670150663612694","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}