British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has sparked speculation about the UK potentially rejoining the EU customs union after repeatedly refusing to rule out the idea in an interview. Although he stressed that such a move is not currently Labour policy, he pointed to countries like Turkey as examples of economic benefits from customs union membership and said that Brexit has harmed the UK economy.
His remarks come amid growing pressure inside No.10 and from senior Labour figures to reconsider Brexit policy, despite Labour’s manifesto commitment not to rejoin the customs union or single market. Health secretary Wes Streeting and advisers close to prime minister Keir Starmer have also recently suggested reversing the economic damage of Brexit.
Starmer has insisted that rejoining the customs union remains a “red line” but has called for a much closer relationship with the EU. Conservatives, including Priti Patel, meanwhile accuse Labour of planning to take the UK “back into the EU by the back door” and betraying the 2016 Brexit vote.
“Rejoining the customs union or single market would be a total betrayal of the Brexit vote, sacrificing our ability to determine our own trade policy, handing over customs rules to Brussels bureaucrats and abandoning border control altogether,” Patel has warned of the consequences.
“If Labour are really committed to staying out, Starmer must publicly confirm David Lammy is wrong, or voters will make their own conclusions,” she added.
Following the controversy, Labour sources reiterated that the party’s position has not changed: they will not return to the single market or customs union, but aim to build a closer trading relationship with Brussels.
