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Corbyn's backing for customs union a welcome step

March 06, 2018 10:03·
Brexit campaigners seek views in Nailsea

Brexit campaigners seek views in Nailsea

Speaking to ITV News, Liam Fox said Sir Keir announcement on a customs union showed that "the Labour Party is largely clueless on this issue, and when they tell us what sort of customs union they want, we'll get an idea of quite how much they've betrayed the voters who voted to leave the European Union".

Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for Brexit would pull Britain out of the customs union.

How remarkable that today's "legally-binding" document from Michel Barnier, which tries to keep Northern Ireland in a customs union with the EU comes just 48 hours after Jeremy Corbyn made a speech changing Labour's policy in order to commit the United Kingdom as a whole to remain within the customs union.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "We think that we can have very efficient facilitation systems to make sure there is no need for a hard border excessive checks at the frontier for Northern Ireland and the Republic".

BUSINESS leaders have bemoaned too many unanswered questions about the UK's future relationship with the European Union, even as they welcomed Jeremy Corbyn's vision for trade with the EU inside a new customs union. "From the very start it has been a key clear principle of the European Union 27 that there can be no cherry-picking and no single market "a la carte". The EU imposes tariffs on goods from outside the bloc.

A customs union allows free-flowing trade between member nations, without businesses paying export taxes or tariffs, although members usually have joint trade agreement with countries not in their union.

So Corbyn has opted for a fudge: leave the EU, yet stay in the customs union.

Brexit supporters point to the fast economic growth rates in many of those countries as a golden opportunity for Britain.

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While May and her ministers say they plan to negotiate the best access possible to the EU, Brussels says Britain is on course to run into trade barriers. His party has said it will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the EU's single market and the customs union.

The Institute of Directors, a British employers' group, said this month that a partial customs union could solve the impasse.

Sir Keir also signalled support for cross-party amendments on the customs union to the Trade Bill.

Britain would be free to strike trade deals with other countries excluding those goods, the IoD said.

Appearing on Peston On Sunday, deputy Labour leader Tom Watson agreed that it would be "reckless" of the Government to rule out any form of customs union.

About 80 percent of Britain's economy is in the services sector, ranging from banking and insurance in the City of London to architectural firms and education providers.

The International Trade Secretary will use a speech to claim the move, which could be forced by a coalition of Labour and Tory rebels, would leave Britain in a worse position than now.

"Britain now shares a common set of tariffs with EU on imports from outside the EU, for instance there is a 10 percent tariff on cars and a 2.7 percent duty on golf clubs from outside the Union". Governments are often reluctant to commit to opening up banking, for example, given the power of British and USA banks.

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