West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin calls for UK to rejoin customs union
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has said that Sir Keir Starmer needs to reconsider his Brexit red lines and look at rejoining the customs union.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly ruled out taking Britain back into the European Union, the single market or the customs union.
Sir Keir made these his Brexit “red lines” in Labour’s election manifesto. However, after a recent trade mission to Germany and Switzerland, Ms Brabin told I News that the Government should reconsider the latter.
“If we are serious about growth, we must be braver about our relationship with Europe,” she said.
“That means a customs union relationship with the EU.”
Ms Brabin visited Zurich and Stuttgart to sell West Yorkshire’s success in financial services, health technology and advanced manufacturing.
However, she said that she left with “one clear conclusion” about rejoining the customs union.
This is a body that the UK was part of when it was a member of the EU, which allows tariff-free trade across borders.
Since Brexit, British export businesses have been hit by a mountain of red tape and additional costs.
Ms Brabin said: “It translates into fewer orders for manufacturers in Bradford, more paperwork for healthtech companies in Huddersfield, and missed opportunities for finance firms in Leeds,” she said.
“In West Yorkshire, the value of goods we exported to Europe in 2023 was barely any higher than in 2018.”
That is why the government is currently negotiating a food and drink deal, to cut administrative costs on meat and dairy exports.
Experts believe that the UK would have to negotiate a new customs union as opposed to joining the original treaty again.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Ms Brabin’s neighbour in Leeds West and Pudsey, has called for greater alignment with the EU to boost growth.
She said recently: “Brexit has not been good for our country, for growth, for prices in the shop. It’s almost 10 years since we voted Leave.
“That ship has sailed but there’s an awful lot we can do to improve our trading relations. Where that requires alignment in our national interest, we should absolutely align.”