The United Kingdom’s Labour Party said it wants Britain to seek a new customs agreement with the European Union (EU) after Brexit, piling pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May by leaving her at the mercy of rebels in her own Conservative Party who also want such a deal with the bloc.
After weeks of discussions, the party’s leadership has “unanimously” agreed on a policy backing a customs deal and Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn will flesh out the details in a speech on Monday, his spokesman on Brexit, Keir Starmer, said.
The party previously said it was open to the option of staying in a customs union with the bloc.
“There’s going to have to be a new treaty,” Starmer said on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show last Sunday. “Will it do the work of the current customs union? Yes, that’s the intention.”
The change in stance points to perilous times ahead for May, who has so far advanced the bulk of her EU agenda through Parliament with the support of a Labour Party that’s anxious not to alienate Brexit voters.
The premier’s fragility was laid bare last December, when rebels in her party joined with Labour to defeat May in Parliament, ensuring lawmakers will have a meaningful vote on the final deal she strikes with the EU.
‘Freedom to act’
May has opposed staying in a customs union with the EU because it would tie Britain’s hands in negotiating trade deals with other nations.
Trade Secretary Liam Fox, on the same broadcast, said that “what’s important is Britain’s freedom to act differently in the future according to different circumstances.”
The customs union “puts a frontier around Europe and it means that we all apply the same duties to goods coming in,” Fox said. “We would like to be able to alter those, for example with developing countries, we’d like to be able to cut some of those duties.”
Tories who wanted to remain in the EU have already signaled support for Britain staying in a customs union.
Earlier this month, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Ken Clarke and former Business Minister Anna Soubry proposed an amendment to May’s taxation bill that would oblige the premier to try to keep the UK in the customs union after Brexit.
They won backing from Labour lawmakers, including Chaka Umunna, and the proposals are similar to those advanced by Labour’s leadership team.
“Whether it’s our amendments or the cross-bench amendments, crunch time is now coming for the prime minister because the majority of Parliament does not back her approach to a customs union,” Starmer said. “The majority in Parliament needs to be heard and it will be heard sooner rather than later.”
Seeking more
The House of Commons Liaison Committee—which includes all the leaders of the backbench committees that scrutinize legislation—has debated using parliamentary time to hold a nonbinding vote on customs union membership, providing for another potential flash-point.
Corbyn will outline details of Labour’s stance in a speech in Coventry on Monday morning. The change in position was described on Twitter as “very welcome” by Umunna. Chris Bryant, another backbencher seeking to soften Brexit, said in a text message that he was “delighted.”
“It’s the only way to protect jobs, maintain a prosperous economy, ensure British companies can do business across Europe and protect the Good Friday Agreement,” Bryant said.
Even so, Bryant and Umunna are among more than 80 senior Labour figures to push for the party to go even further and set a goal for the UK to remain in the European Economic Area, allowing it to stay in the Single Market.
The call, issued in an e-mailed statement last Sunday, includes 36 members of Parliament and former party leader Neil Kinnock.
“Given the parliamentary arithmetic and the numbers of parliamentarians from other parties—including Conservative backbenchers—who have indicated they will join us in this endeavor, our country’s continued participation in a customs union and the Single Market is now in the Labour Party’s hands,” they wrote. “We must grab this chance before it is too late. We will never be forgiven if we fail to do so.”