Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said Britain should negotiate a new customs union deal with the EU.
In a speech in London, he argued that Britain needed to boost its economy and build its capacity to deal with a position of strength from an incoming Donald Trump presidency.
A party source told the BBC the policy was a pragmatic move to “turbocharge” the economy and a step towards the ultimate Lib Dem goal of rejoining the EU.
Sir Ed also warned that Trump could not be relied upon to “play by the rules” or stick to international agreements.
He called on Trump to offer a state visit to Britain, but only if he provided financial and military support for Ukraine.
Sir Ed said the president-elect “craves” a pageant at Buckingham Palace and a banquet with the monarch.
gave Lib Dem Leader’s Address There were fierce critics of Trump, who will be sworn into his second term in the White House on Monday, describing him as the “first convicted felon” to take the oath of office.
Sir Ed noted that Trump hailed President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius”, said “trade wars are good”, and called himself a “tariff man”.
He warned that the new US administration would be a “threat to peace and prosperity” around the world.
But “The Donald” could not be ignored and had to be dealt with.
Sir Ed accused Conservative leader Kimmy Badenoch of wanting to go “cap in hand” to Trump and “beg for whatever trade deal he’s going to do”.
He described Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, as “angry at Trump and licking his boots”, and “more interested in pushing Trump’s agenda than the interests of the UK here”.
“If we look as weak or as desperate as the Conservatives or the Reform make us out to be, Trump will treat the UK as he has treated so many throughout his career”.
He said the UK’s relationship with its other trading partners, including its European neighbours, must be strengthened urgently so that Trump’s Britain “is not bullied”.
Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform, told the BBC that the Lib Dems’ call for a new customs union deal showed “how clueless they are because President Trump is more likely to impose tariffs on the EU”. .
He said Trump was “happy” for Britain to leave the EU and questioned why Britain would want to move closer to a “sick economic model”.
The Conservatives have been contacted for their response.
Countries in the customs union agree not to impose charges – known as tariffs – or customs checks on each other’s goods, but under EU rules they also cannot kill their own trade deals.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has. He stressed the restoration of relations with Brussels.but has ruled out rejoining the customs union or the EU’s single market – which guarantees the free movement of goods, capital, services and people within it.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the Lib Dems “only think about Europe”.
“Of course it’s a big market, but it’s a government that wants to improve its relationship with the EU but also to work with the US, India, the Gulf,” Reynolds told BBC Breakfast. “
“I think the UK can be positioned as the best economy among these major trading blocs and I think what the Lib Dems are saying today doesn’t take into account that wider global position”.
It was Sir Ed’s first speech to focus on relations with Brussels since becoming Liberal Democrat leader after the 2019 general election, when the party’s campaign to block Brexit saw him down to just 11 MPs.
In last year’s general election, the party won a record 72 seats in one campaign. Barely mentioned the EU.Although rejoining the bloc is the party’s long-term goal.
Party sources said Sir Ed’s call to rejoin the EU customs union was not ideological, but about putting the UK in the best possible position to deal with the new Trump administration and the EU.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on US imports when he returns to the White House next week, raising concerns among many export-dependent countries.
Sir Ed attacked the government for rejecting a new customs union with the EU, saying it would be the best way to remove trade barriers and “turbocharge our economy in the medium and long term”.
He urged ministers to negotiate a deal with the EU this year, which aims to create a new customs union by 2030, arguing that it would make the UK “weak rather than weak” with Trump. “Position of strength” will have an opportunity to deal with.
There are no tariffs or other barriers to trade between countries in the EU customs union – which the UK left in January 2021. When Brexit took effect..
But member states impose a common tariff on all goods entering the Union from outside.
Official figures released on Thursday show. The UK economy grew for the first time in three months in November. – After shrinking in September and October.
But the 0.1% increase in the size of the economy was smaller than most economists had predicted.
The figures come after recent turmoil in financial markets has pushed the government’s borrowing costs to their highest levels in years.