Thirteen Labour MPs vote for talks on joining EU customs union

Thirteen Labour MPs have backed a Liberal Democrat bill requiring the government to begin negotiations on joining a bespoke customs union with the EU.

Labour’s manifesto ruled out re-joining the existing EU custom union and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has recently said such a move was “not currently our policy”.

The vote on the bill was tied, with 100 MPs voting each way leaving Deputy Speaker Caroline Nokes to cast the deciding vote. She told MPs she would back the bill “in order to allow for further debate”.

Although the bill has progressed, it is highly unlikely to become law unless it receives government support.

It is the first time a vote has been tied in the House of Commons since 2019, when MPs voted on alternative plans for Brexit.

Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler and Dame Meg Hillier were among those Labour MPs to back the UK-EU Customs Union Bill.

The majority of Labour MPs abstained on the bill, while three voted against: Jonathan Brash, Luke Myer and Josh Newbury.

Eighty-nine Conservative MPs and four members of Reform UK voted against the bill.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the vote was a “historic victory” for his party.

“The prime minister must now listen to Parliament and the public, drop his self-imposed red lines and finally go for proper growth through an ambitious trade deal with the EU,” he added.

The Speaker casts his vote according to what was done in similar circumstances in the past. Where possible the issue should remain open for further discussion and no final decision should be made by a casting vote.

According to parliamentary rules, when a vote is tied, the Speaker should cast the deciding vote “according to what was done in similar circumstances in the past”.

“Where possible the issue should remain open for further discussion and no final decision should be made by a casting vote.”

The UK left the customs union – which eases trade barriers by allowing member states to charge the same taxes on goods imported from outside the bloc – after the country voted for Brexit.

The government has been trying to build a closer relationship with the EU including through deals on food standards rules, electricity trading and visas for young people.

Speaking in Parliament, the Liberal Democrats’ Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton told MPs his customs union bill would “cut red tape, unlock investment and restore certainty to British business”.

He said Brexit had been “an abject economic failure” which had “choked business investment, shattered economic resilience, strangled trade, stifled the economy and left everyone of us poorer”.

Despite having opposed Brexit, Conservative Simon Hoare urged MPs not to back the bill.

He argued that joining a customs union would go against the wishes of the public who backed Brexit in the referendum and would create uncertainty for businesses.

He also said it would mean unpicking trading relationships with other countries such as Australia and that the EU didn’t want such a union.

“There is neither interest in it nor appetite for it,” he added.

In recent months, Labour ministers, including the prime minister, have become more vocal in their criticism of Brexit.

Earlier this month, Sir Keir wrote in the Guardian that “the botched Brexit deal significantly hurt our economy”.

More recently, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told The News Agents podcast: “It’s self-evident that leaving the European Union badly damaged our economy, took us out of an important marketplace and created serious friction.”

Asked whether he wanted to the UK to have a customs union with the EU, he said: “That’s not currently our policy, that’s not currently where we are.”

However, he added that Turkey, which is in a customs union with the bloc, was “seemingly benefiting and seeing growth in their economy”.