Minister shuts down David Lammy after he refused to rule out reversing Brexit
A cabinet minister has sacked deputy prime minister David Lammy, who has repeatedly ruled out a Brexit reversal, arguing that rejoining the customs union could boost economic growth.
When asked for his views, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News that the prime minister was “pretty clear” the UK would not rejoin the customs union.
Sir Keir Starmer is now seeking to “reset” relations with the bloc as part of a bid to boost growth, but insisted the government’s “clear red lines on the single market and customs union” remain in place.
But in an interview last week Mr Lammy refused seven times to rule out a Brexit reversal, arguing that leaving the EU would cause huge damage to the UK economy and saying Labor should consider closer integration with Brussels.
While he said rejoining the customs union was not currently government policy, he said it was obvious that other countries were seeing growth after doing so.
Asked about Mr Lammy’s comments, Mr McFadden told Sky News: “We’ve signed three trade deals this year and if you’re going to join a customs union that’s quite a challenge.”
When asked whether the deputy prime minister was wrong in his words, the Minister of Work and Pensions responded as follows: “I think the Prime Minister put it quite clearly in terms of the grand architecture of the EU. By the grand architecture, I mean the single market and the customs union.”
He added: “But what I want to emphasize is that we have a different approach to the European Union than the last government. We are not nationalists.
“The Ukraine issue has really brought European leaders together. We are not trying to blame the EU for everything and we want a closer, more productive relationship where we can avoid some of the costs and delays brought about by a Tory Brexit.”
Labour’s manifesto pledged not to rejoin the single market or customs union, but pressure from MPs and advisers on the issue is mounting after weak growth forecasts.
Asked on The News Agents podcast about the idea of becoming part of the customs union again, Mr Lammy, who is also justice minister, said: “That’s not our policy at the moment. That’s not where we are at the moment.”
“But you can see that countries like Türkiye that have a customs union are apparently benefiting and seeing growth in their economies, and that’s also obvious.”
He added that his comments were “subject to shared responsibility”, implying he should follow Sir Keir’s position.
New polling following the deputy prime minister’s comments showed two-thirds of 2024 Labor voters would prefer Sir Keir to abandon Brexit red lines and join a customs union with the European Union rather than raise taxes on workers.
The statement came after ministers stepped up their attacks on Brexit ahead of a tax hike in last month’s budget, saying the decision to leave the EU had a bigger impact on the UK economy than critics had anticipated.
Speaking on Monday, Sir Keir said it would be “utterly reckless” to use Britain’s exit from the EU as a template for future foreign policy.
“The Brexit vote was a fair, democratic statement and I will always respect that. But the way it was sold and delivered was wrong,” he said.
“Mad promises were made to the British people and left unfulfilled. We are still dealing with the consequences on our economy today.”
He added: “It is completely reckless to see Brexit as a template for our future foreign policy.”
