{"id":665932,"date":"2026-01-01T02:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T02:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/665932\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T02:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T02:35:16","slug":"kemi-badenoch-accuses-labour-of-reopening-old-brexit-wounds-to-shore-up-its-core-vote-after-senior-ministers-urge-closer-relationship-with-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/665932\/","title":{"rendered":"Kemi Badenoch accuses Labour of reopening old Brexit wounds to shore up its core vote after senior ministers urge closer relationship with Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MARTIN BECKFORD, POLICY EDITOR<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 19:01 EST, 31 December 2025 | Updated: 19:01 EST, 31 December 2025 <\/p>\n

Kemi Badenoch<\/a> has accused Labour of reopening old Brexit<\/a> wounds in a desperate ploy to shore up its core vote.<\/p>\n

The Tory<\/a> leader said growing calls by some ministers for the UK to rejoin the European customs union showed the Government has no plan or new ideas.<\/p>\n

And she warned that the move would mean Britain giving up the trade deals it has struck since leaving the EU, including with the US and India<\/a>, while opening the door to even more demands for concessions from Brussels.<\/p>\n

Her comments come after Health Secretary Wes Streeting<\/a> claimed the best way to improve the economy would be a \u2018deeper trading relationship with the EU\u2019 while Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy<\/a> repeatedly refused to rule out reversing Brexit.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s most senior trade union boss, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak, has also urged Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> not to rule out a customs union even though it is one of the Prime Minister\u2019s \u2018red lines\u2019 on improving relations with the EU.<\/p>\n

Writing in the Daily Mail, former Trade Secretary Mrs Badenoch said: \u2018The fact is that the only people advocating for such a policy – and here I include the trade union bosses who have also proposed it – do not understand what a customs union actually is.\u2019<\/p>\n

She accused Labour of failing to understand that \u2018trade policy is power\u2019 and that a country that loses control of it is no longer able to govern itself.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is why the renewed chatter about dragging Britain back into the EU\u2019s customs union should worry us all. It is not a sign of pragmatism – it is a symptom of Labour\u2019s weakness.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Conservative <\/p>\n

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch on a visit to a drone firm in Hampshire last month<\/p>\n

Listing the Government\u2019s U-turns on everything from restricting Winter Fuel Payments to imposing Inheritance Tax on family farms, the Conservative leader said: \u2018Now that the government is weak and has no plan or new ideas, it has re-opened old Brexit wounds in the vain hope that doing so will make it more popular.<\/p>\n

\u2018It won\u2019t. Going back into the customs union would make us all poorer and damage British business and British farming.\u2019<\/p>\n

In her New Year\u2019s message, Mrs Badenoch urged Britons not to \u2018lose hope\u2019 despite enduring higher taxes and unemployment under Labour in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u2018Don’t let the politics of grievance tell you that we’re destined to stay the same,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Things can change, but you also need to vote for the change you want to see in 2026.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in one of a series of interviews to mark the tenth anniversary of the referendum this year, former Tory minister Lord Gove admitted he regretted destroying Boris Johnson\u2019s leadership campaign in the wake of the vote.<\/p>\n

He told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that their \u2018falling out\u2019 meant the successful Vote Leave campaign never got to implement its Brexit plan, which would have included \u2018waiting out\u2019 the EU rather than triggering the Article 50 countdown process as Theresa May went on to do.<\/p>\n

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Nick Clegg admitted that the Remain campaign was \u2018lamentable\u2019 and struggled to compete with the \u2018emotive\u2019 appeal to \u2018take back control\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Health <\/p>\n

Health Secretary Wes Streeting recently called for Britain to develop a closer trading relationship with the European Union\u00a0<\/p>\n

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