ESTHER KRAKUE: It’s not just Brexiteers who can see that the EU is failing.
Esther Krakue (L) warns Britain must not go backwards (Image: Getty)
More than a dozen Labour MPs have backed a Liberal Democrat bill calling for a new EU-UK customs union. It’s a “symbolic move”, we’re told. A “historic victory,” according to Ed Davey, whose words immediately remove any credibility from the claim. But what it actually proves is something far more depressing: our political class remains hopelessly addicted to the idea that Britain is nothing without Brussels.
Keir Starmer says he has no intention of rejoining the customs union. That may be true today, but his own senior figures have been dropping heavy hints in the opposite direction. David Lammy recently suggested that leaving the EU “badly damaged” Britain’s economy and a closer relationship would boost growth. Wes Streeting made similar comments. And the Prime Minister himself described Brexit as having “significantly hurt our economy” during a major speech in London. When the leadership sets that tone, it’s not surprising the backbenches start pushing for concrete steps back towards EU alignment.
The timing is no coincidence either. The German state visit last week gave the impression that Britain and Europe are quietly moving back into each other’s orbit. But the narrative that Europe is flourishing while Britain falters simply isn’t true. Germany, the supposed model we should all follow, is facing its own stagnation and industrial decline. France and Italy aren’t doing any better. Growth across the eurozone has been anaemic for years, and productivity has flatlined. In fact, euro-zone labour productivity growth since 2020 has averaged just 0.7 per cent a year; that’s less than half the rate of the United States over the same period.
Even GDP growth hardly supports the idea of a thriving European economic miracle. In the most recent quarter, euro-zone GDP grew by only 0.3 per cent. That sort of sluggish expansion would be unconvincing for a country, but for an entire bloc proclaiming global competitiveness, it’s embarrassing.
Former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi (hardly a Eurosceptic) warned last year that Europe’s economic model is “fading fast”. He argued the EU now needs massive, repeated investment just to maintain its position. Meanwhile, energy costs remain high, investment in cutting-edge technology is weak, and in fields like AI, European firms are trailing badly.
Is this the ‘success story’ we are supposed to anchor ourselves to?
But it doesn’t stop at economics. The EU’s security architecture is a shambles. Its grand promise to project geopolitical influence has crumbled faster than its own credibility. Europe has been entirely sidelined in discussions over the war in Ukraine. It’s clear that Washington and Moscow call the shots, while Brussels issues statements and holds conferences. Even some pro-European commentators now admit the EU has made itself irrelevant. That should worry those urging us to tie our future to Brussels, not encourage them.
Then there is the security situation at home. Islamist extremism and organised crime continue to destabilise major European cities. Senior officials in Belgium and France have warned that criminal networks are taking root to such an extent that parts of their countries risk becoming “narco-states”. These problems are linked, in part, to years of uncontrolled immigration and weak border enforcement. The EU has failed to get a grip on either.
And yet, despite all of this, stubborn politicians insist that re-entering a customs union is the route to recovery. They focus almost entirely on trade friction and ignore the broader reality: membership would mean surrendering control over areas where flexibility and independence actually give us an advantage. It would bind us into a system that is struggling to reform itself and is losing ground internationally.
Britain has serious challenges. No one denies that. But it is striking that the first instinct of many politicians is not to tackle them directly, but to look for a way back to the arrangements we left. Clearly, they have no faith in Britain’s ability to chart its own course.
Nine years ago, Britain made a clear decision about the direction of this country. That mandate has not expired simply because politics has changed hands. If anything, it should be taken more seriously now that we finally have the stability to put that decision into action.
What Britain needs is a government that believes in the country’s potential, not one that assumes success can only be found by outsourcing decisions to Brussels. We cannot build a stronger future by returning to structures that failed to deliver growth, security or influence when we were last inside them.
A customs union would take us backwards. It would reopen the debate the country settled years ago and confirm the suspicion that too many in Westminster would rather hide behind Brussels than make Britain stand on its own two feet.
But Britain can, and it must.
