Key facts
- George Osborne believes rejoining the EU customs union would be the fastest route to economic recovery for the UK.
- Osborne stated that leaving the customs union has had a devastating impact on British trade.
- He argued that rejoining the customs union does not require accepting the free movement of people.
- Osborne suggested that trade deals with America, a key argument for Brexit, now appear fanciful.
Former UK Chancellor George Osborne has argued that Britain should rejoin the European Union's customs union to mitigate the economic consequences of Brexit. Osborne, who served in David Cameron's cabinet during the Brexit referendum, described the UK's economic performance since leaving the EU as having "fallen off a cliff" and stated that the country is "clearly poorer than it would otherwise be."
Speaking to The Independent, Osborne emphasized the need to rebuild links with the continent, suggesting that rejoining the customs union is a "simple thing to do" and was not a central part of the original Brexit debate. He contended that the departure from the customs union has had a "devastating impact on trade." Osborne also dismissed the Brexiteers' promise of striking major trade deals with countries like America as "fanciful."
He further proposed that rejoining the customs union would be a more palatable option for the British public than rejoining the EU's single market, as it would not necessitate accepting the free movement of people, a policy he identified as a "complicated issue to sell" in Britain.