Labour MP Neil Coyle has backed former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne’s call for Britain to rejoin the European Union’s customs union, arguing that the move could boost the economy, ease Northern Ireland border issues and repair some of the economic consequences of Brexit.
Coyle responded after Osborne said in an interview with The Independent that Brexit had been “a mess” and argued that returning to the customs union would be a relatively straightforward way to rebuild trade with Europe.
Coyle said:
“Helps the economy. Helps Northern Ireland and border issues. Helps repair some of the damage Farage and the Tories did with Brexit.”
Osborne: Britain should rejoin customs union
Osborne, who served as Chancellor under David Cameron and campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum, told The Independent that Britain had become poorer as a result of Brexit and needed to rebuild its economic relationship with the continent.
He said:
“I would rejoin the customs union. It’s a quite simple thing to do.”
Osborne argued that leaving the customs union had damaged trade and questioned one of the central arguments made by Brexit supporters at the time — that leaving would allow Britain to secure significantly better independent trade agreements elsewhere.
He also drew a distinction between the customs union and the EU single market, noting that returning to the customs union would not itself require Britain to accept freedom of movement.
Osborne urges Burnham to consider move
The former Chancellor directly challenged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to consider the proposal.
Osborne said:
“If I was Andy Burnham, I don’t see why you wouldn’t rejoin the customs union.”
He argued that Britain’s wider growth problem could not be separated from questions about trade with the EU and attracting international investment.
The Government’s current position remains that it will honour Labour’s 2024 manifesto commitment not to rejoin either the customs union or single market, while pursuing closer economic cooperation with the EU.
Coyle highlights Northern Ireland
Coyle’s intervention also focused on Northern Ireland.
A customs union removes tariffs and customs checks on goods moving between participating territories, so any future UK-EU arrangement of that kind could have implications for the trading arrangements created after Brexit and the movement of goods between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the European Union.
Exactly how that would work would depend on the terms of any negotiated agreement with Brussels.
Brexit debate shifting again
Osborne’s intervention is notable because it comes from one of the most senior Conservative figures of the Cameron era rather than from Labour or the Liberal Democrats.
It also comes as the Liberal Democrats prepare to campaign more explicitly for Britain to move closer to the EU, including through participation in the single market and customs union.
For Coyle, Osborne’s comments strengthen the argument that closer economic integration with Europe should no longer be treated as politically off limits.
His position is that customs-union membership deserves renewed consideration because of its potential implications for trade, economic growth and the post-Brexit arrangements affecting Northern Ireland — while the Government continues to pursue its existing policy of closer EU cooperation without formally rejoining.
