BRUSSELS – The debate about Britain re-entering the EU’s customs union “needs to be engaged with”, the Business Secretary has said as he pitches for new economic deals between the UK and the Continent.
Peter Kyle warned that going back into the customs union would take years and would not prove “the quick fix that some people think it is” – insisting that it is better to focus on more immediate priorities such as closer working on cutting-edge technology.
But he became the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that the idea should not be taken entirely off the table.
Speaking during a visit to Brussels, Kyle urged politicians on both sides of the Channel to find new ways of working together which do not repeat the Brexit battles of the past.
‘Our country has been dragged downwards’
The Government has committed to staying out of the customs union and single market on the basis of a promise in the Labour manifesto, but pro-European campaigners have been stepping up a push to reconsider.
Joining the customs union would remove the need for customs checks on all goods crossing between the UK and EU, but also cancel out all the trade deals signed since Brexit – including with the US, India, Australia and the CPTPP bloc centred on the Pacific.
Asked whether the idea was something that ministers should consider, Kyle told The i Paper: “The customs union exists, and the debate about it needs to be engaged with. What I’m putting on the table can be delivered in six months and be highly consequential for every Briton, because it can turn the dial on economic growth.”
Kyle is pushing for the UK and EU to agree a new deal to co-operate on new technology such as AI, which would sit outside existing structures like the single market and customs union.
He pointed out that Turkey’s accession to the customs union took decades to conclude, while negotiations over the UK’s exit lasted for more than four years – adding: “So whereas it is a debate that I’m happy to engage in, don’t anyone kid themselves that it is a quick fix to all of the problems, because our country has been dragged downwards because of people promising quick solutions to difficult, complex problems – and just because we saw the Brexiteers do that, don’t think that there isn’t an equal opposite to it.”
He concluded: “It is there, it is powerful, and it is a debate that I’m happy to enter into, but I will not succumb to Lib Dem utopianism that it is the quick fix that some people think it is.”
We ‘could have done better’ on Brexit
The minister said the Government would concentrate on “outcomes that are felt by people across the whole of the country” in time for the next election, expected in 2029.
He admitted that “we demonstrably could have done better” in how Brexit was carried out, but warned: “How we rebuild is entirely different to the conversation about how we left.”
Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have maintained a hard line on the customs union, while other senior ministers have expressed openness to rejoining in future.
Your next read
square POLITICS ExclusiveUK wants right to ban cruel foods in Brexit trade deal
square POLITICSUK fears being frozen out of lucrative ‘Made in Europe’ deals by French
square EPSTEIN SCANDALExplosive Trump documents are missing from Epstein files. And he can’t escape them
square MEDIA ExclusivePensioners threaten to stop paying BBC licence fee if TV goes online only
David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister, said that Turkey’s economy had grown as a result of its arrangements with the EU, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting suggested that the Government should consider any measures which do not mean reintroducing the free movement of people – which the customs union would not.
On Wednesday, Kyle and Teresa Ribera, European Commissioner for Competitiveness, signed the EU-UK Competition Cooperation Agreement.
The deal sets out a framework for co-operation between EU authorities and members states, and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, on matters such as antitrust and merger investigations
Hence then, the article about uk should talk about rejoining the eu customs union says trade secretary was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( UK should talk about rejoining the EU customs union, says trade secretary )
Also on site :