Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called for a reset in 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 ever think about Europe”.
“Of course, it is a major market, but this is a government that wants to improve that relationship with the EU but also wants to do work with the US, with India, with the Gulf,” Reynolds told Breakfast.
“I think the UK could be positioned as the best economy between those major trading blocs and I think what the Lib Dems are saying today is not taking into account that wider global position”.
Sir Ed’s speech is his first to focus on relations with Brussels since he became Liberal Democrat leader following the 2019 general election, when the party’s campaign to stop Brexit saw it slump to just 11 MPs.
At last year’s general election, the party gained a record 72 seats on the back of a campaign that barely mentioned the EU at all, even though rejoining the bloc remains the party’s long-term aim.
Sir Ed’s call to rejoin the EU customs union is not ideological, party sources say, 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 after he returns to the White House next week, sparking anxiety in many countries that rely on exports.
Sir Ed will attack the government for rejecting a new customs union with the EU, saying it would be the best way to tear down trade barriers and “turbocharge our economy in the medium and long term”.
He will urge ministers to negotiate a deal with the EU this year, with the aim of forming a fresh customs union by 2030, arguing this will allow the UK to “deal with President Trump from a position of strength, not weakness”.
