Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has backed the UK being in a permanent customs union with the EU in a speech setting out his approach to Brexit.
He said this would avoid the need for a “hard border” in Northern Ireland and ensure free-flowing trade for business.
The policy shift could lead to Labour siding with Tory rebels to defeat Theresa May on her Brexit strategy.
But a customs union after Brexit would be a “complete sell out”, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will argue.
Mr Corbyn insisted in an interview with BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg that his speech was a “firming up” of Labour’s existing policy, which was to back customs union membership during the planned two-year transition period after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.
In his speech, at Coventry University, Mr Corbyn said Labour would be “looking for a Brexit that puts the working people first”.
In a shift from the party’s policy at last year’s general election, he said the UK should strike a new customs deal with the EU at the end of transition.
“Labour would seek a final deal that gives full access to European markets and maintains the benefits of the single market and the customs union,” he said.
“We have long argued that a customs union is a viable option for the final deal.
“So Labour would seek to negotiate a new comprehensive UK-EU customs union to ensure that there are no tariffs with Europe and to help avoid any need for a hard border in Northern Ireland.”
The prime minister has insisted the UK will leave both the single market and the customs union, allowing it to negotiate its own post-Brexit trade deals.
Mrs May will give details in a speech on Friday of how her plan for a “managed diversion” from the EU will work in practice, after first briefing the cabinet.
The Conservatives accused Mr Corbyn of “betraying millions of Labour voters” who had backed Brexit.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Labour’s “confused policy would be bad for jobs and wages”.
And in a speech on Tuesday, he will say the UK would find itself in a “worse position” than it is now if it leaves the existing customs union but negotiates a similar arrangement.
Source: bbc.com, unabridged article: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-43189878
