Britain & Labour’s Proposal for a Permanent Customs Union

The leader of the British Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, is desperately trying to prevent the Labour Party from fracturing and splitting into two parties. Most Labour Party members want a second referendum in the hope that the people would vote to Remain this time around. Many Labour members remain under the impression that the policy agreed at a conference last year was that the party would support a second referendum if it could not force a general election. However, that policy maintained that as “a public vote” was one of the options that had to remain on the table.

Instead of moving that option to the forefront, Corbyn has abandoned that posture and asked for a permanent customs union – one “that includes a UK say on future EU trade deals.” This means that Labour is proposing a new permanent customs union with the European Union (EU) after Brexit which would allow the UK “a say” in future trade deals. Britain never wins any trade deal anyway and it has witnessed nothing but a declining economic trend ever since it joined the EU.

Anyone who would bother to look at trade would immediately see that the EU needs the UK. The biggest market for Germany to sell cars is the UK since it maintains the old-world mercantilist economic model. That means that the UK has a better consumer market that supports Europe – not the other way around. Belgium and the Netherlands have a higher per capita income compared to Britain which is significantly higher than that of Germany. Remaining in the customs union would be a disaster. The UK could not negotiate its own deal with the USA for France would be able to veto it from the start.