Ruling out any continued customs union with the EU is “a profound mistake”, the Labour chair of the Brexit committee, Hilary Benn, has said, warning that it could both harm the economy and risk conflict in Northern Ireland.
Speaking after Downing Street said the UK would not be involved in either the current customs union or a new union to replace it, at the start of a crucial week of Brexit discussions, Benn said time was running out for ministers to decide on their final goals.
“I wish [Downing Street’s statement] was clarity but I don’t think it is,” Benn told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think the government is in a state of open disagreement. The prime minister has been immobilised. We’re 19 months since the referendum … and we still don’t know what it is we want.”
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, was due to meet Theresa May and the Brexit secretary, David Davis, in Downing Street on Monday. Key cabinet colleagues will meet on Wednesday and Thursday to decide the details of the government’s policy regarding a customs union.
A Downing Street source said on Sunday: “It is not our policy to be in the customs union. It is not our policy to be in a customs union.” The statement went further than May, who, on Friday, refused to rule out involvement in a customs union when questioned during her visit to China.
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