George Osborne has urged the UK to rejoin the EU customs union, arguing that Britain’s economy has worsened since Brexit and that closer trade ties with Europe would help drive recovery.

Speaking to The Independent, the former Tory chancellor said the post-referendum period has damaged growth, adding that the economy is poorer than it would have been without leaving the EU. Osborne, who was later dismissed as chancellor by Theresa May and previously served in David Cameron’s cabinet at the time of the 2016 vote, said rebuilding links with the EU remains important.

‘Fallen Off A Cliff’ Since Brexit

Osborne said Brexit has had a significant negative effect on the British economy, describing it as a sharp downturn. He pointed to the need for the government to focus on restoring trading relationships with the EU as a route to stabilising performance.

He also acknowledged that restarting UK–EU arrangements a decade after the referendum would not be straightforward. However, he argued that tightening ties with Europe could still improve the wider outlook for the economy.

Rejoining The customs union

Osborne said he would rejoin the EU customs union, presenting it as the quickest option to reverse the damage to trade. He argued that the issue was not addressed during the Brexit debate, saying that leaving the customs union was not widely anticipated and that it has had a “devastating” impact on trade.

He linked this to what he described as Brexiteers’ expectations during the campaign. Osborne said the opposition to staying in the customs union was based on claims about major trade deals with the United States, but that he now views those promises as unrealistic.

Trade, Investment And Free Movement

Osborne said Britain cannot address its growth challenge without considering how to revive trade with the European continent and attract investment. He also suggested that a customs union return would be easier to sell politically than a full return to the single market.

In that context, he referenced Labour’s Andy Burnham, saying he did not see why Burnham would not support rejoining the customs union. Osborne argued that, unlike rejoining the single market, coming back to the customs union would not require accepting the EU’s free movement of people, which he said is a difficult issue to persuade people about in Britain.

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14 September 2026

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Unfortunately it hasn't been just a trading union block for quite some time and Ursula 'fond of lying' and ilk will never let the UK rejoin without even worse crippling conditions than we endure now.

Best to look towards other trading partners if the EU is not willing maybe even 'gasp of all gasps' join the BRICS ?

The problem with rejoining the EU in any form will result in a humiliation deal because they are so annoyed the UK left the Borg collective... so has to be made an example of.

Dream on if you think the UK would get even half the deal it once enjoyed... like with many things, there's no going back, only forward.

Trouble is, Brexit was a nice idea, just was never allowed to be implemented and was denied by the civil service and lefty politicians from all sides... which is at the same root of so many of the UK's problems.

Politicians no longer represent their voters, they follow their own ideology, zealotry, and intolerance of all else... but a correction is coming, as it always does.

Edited yesterday at 12:08 PM1 day by Sir Dude

9 minutes ago, Sir Dude said:

Politicians no longer represent their voters, they follow their own ideology, zealotry, and intolerance of all else... but a correction is coming, as it always does.

This statement is truly accurate.

A custom union would be easy to implement as UK has kept the same tariffs as the EU in most cases.

https://tariffpedia.com/blog/eu-taric-vs-uk-tariff

its an expensive cartel ,uk pays in more than they receive.they want more money every month to support a gravey train.

neil kinnock and wife became weathy on their salaries from the EU

1 hour ago, johng said:

Unfortunately it hasn't been just a trading union block for quite some time and Ursula 'fond of lying' and ilk will never let the UK rejoin without even worse crippling conditions than we endure now.

Best to look towards other trading partners if the EU is not willing maybe even 'gasp of all gasps' join the BRICS ?

Yes, turn your back on the 500 million people in prosperous Europe and get those wonderful trade deals with Mongolia, Nicaragua....um...Uganda and...and.....Turkmenistan!

Can't say I blame them.

1 hour ago, johng said:

Unfortunately it hasn't been just a trading union block for quite some time and Ursula 'fond of lying' and ilk will never let the UK rejoin without even worse crippling conditions than we endure now.

Best to look towards other trading partners if the EU is not willing maybe even 'gasp of all gasps' join the BRICS ?

Whatever its merits may be, the BRICS group is not a trade zone or an economic association. It's a club, similar to the G7.

There are also no direct bilateral FTAs between its members (There is something close to it between Russia and China)

Edited yesterday at 01:39 PM1 day by candide

I don't understand why Britain hasn't embraced more trade with commonwealth countries

after brexit. Like Victoria Nuland once said : f the EU.

The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of 56 member countries.

It includes the United Kingdom, plus many former British colonies and dependencies.

No chance.

The penalties imposed by the EU for doing so would make this untenable.

They still haven't got over the fact we dumped them.

Anyway, Labour won't be in power long enough to do this and I highly doubt Farage will. 😄

13 hours ago, johng said:

Unfortunately it hasn't been just a trading union block for quite some time and Ursula 'fond of lying' and ilk will never let the UK rejoin without even worse crippling conditions than we endure now.

Best to look towards other trading partners if the EU is not willing maybe even 'gasp of all gasps' join the BRICS ?

That's wrong.

Britain can join, the door is open, but not for cherry pickers

13 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

The problem with rejoining the EU in any form will result in a humiliation deal because they are so annoyed the UK left the Borg collective... so has to be made an example of.

Dream on if you think the UK would get even half the deal it once enjoyed... like with many things, there's no going back, only forward.

Trouble is, Brexit was a nice idea, just was never allowed to be implemented and was denied by the civil service and lefty politicians from all sides... which is at the same root of so many of the UK's problems.

Politicians no longer represent their voters, they follow their own ideology, zealotry, and intolerance of all else... but a correction is coming, as it always does.

In what ways was Brexit never implemented? Evidence plz

13 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

its an expensive cartel ,uk pays in more than they receive.they want more money every month to support a gravey train.

neil kinnock and wife became weathy on their salaries from the EU

They receive less than they pay into the pot but the increase in trade more than makes up for it. Brexit was a huge mistake and that is now being realized, I have read that if a new referendum was held, a vote to rejoin would win. Rees Moggs while championing Brexit had his company in Ireland for good reason. Young people see the advantages of the EU, only the old 'by jingo' people still basking in the glories of the British empire still want Brexit.

15 hours ago, webfact said:

George Osborne has urged the UK to rejoin the EU customs union, arguing that Britain’s economy has worsened since Brexit and that closer trade ties with Europe would help drive recovery.

Speaking to The Independent, the former Tory chancellor said the post-referendum period has damaged growth, adding that the economy is poorer than it would have been without leaving the EU. Osborne, who was later dismissed as chancellor by Theresa May and previously served in David Cameron’s cabinet at the time of the 2016 vote, said rebuilding links with the EU remains important.

The 2nd paragraph says it all. He was in David Cameron's Cabinet and utterly failed to counteract the Murdoch-driven rush to get out of the EU at any cost, as well as the BoJo / Farage lies, and failed to keep the aspects of the EU that help on, for example but not limited to, security & immigration. What an abject failure this idiot is, and now he sits on the sidelines saying the UK should partially rejoin. This hypocritical idiot deserves zero air time on any subject. There are a few examples of the non-financial impacts of Brexit that could have been avoided in the links below, and I shouldn't need to mention the impact on illegal migration to the UK via EU countries as a result of Brexit.

https://www.politico.eu/blogs/on-media/2016/11/murdoch-newspapers-registered-as-official-leave-campaigners/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46039623

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36040060

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7921827/

https://europrospects.eu/shared-threats-divided-laws-the-post-brexit-future-of-uk-eu-crime-and-data-cooperation/

I'm not a fan of Osborne, but in this case he is spot on. Brexit has been by every metric an unmitigated disaster, and is being inreasingly recognised as such by the british public. Even its chief arhitect Farage never mentions it because it has yielded none of the benefits that wete falsely sold. Only the most deluded still refuse to admit they were lied to. It was never about the advancement of the UK, but was always an ideological project driven by the right wing of the tory party. It is inevitable and right that the UK move closer to Europe again. This would be a massive boost to the economy and an important first step.

Why is it that I have read that the UK economy has slightly outperformed the EU economy since the Brexit referendum? Nothing about it being a disaster.

2 minutes ago, loong said:

Why is it that I have read that the UK economy has slightly outperformed the EU economy since the Brexit referendum? Nothing about it being a disaster.

The claim that the UK economy has outperformed the EU since the Brexit referendum relies on misleading metrics like raw GDP growth driven by high population increases. When evaluated through GDP per capita—which measures output per person—and adjusted for long-term trade friction and flatlining productivity, the UK has actually lagged well behind major European economies, with independent forecasts showing a lasting structural drag from leaving the single market.

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

They receive less than they pay into the pot but the increase in trade more than makes up for it

What increase in trade ?

The UK was running an £8 -10 Billion a month trade deficit as part of the EU.

Most Politicians, ex Politicians and hangers on, are still spewing that they have missed out on a seat on the EU gravy train.

15 hours ago, FlorC said:

I don't understand why Britain hasn't embraced more trade with commonwealth countries

after brexit. Like Victoria Nuland once said : f the EU.

The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of 56 member countries.

It includes the United Kingdom, plus many former British colonies and dependencies.

Geography?

BTW, UK benefits from several trade deals with commonwealth countries, either new or inherited from the EU. It's just that they don't deliver much.

Businesses follow business imperatives, not political stances.

19 hours ago, johng said:

Unfortunately it hasn't been just a trading union block for quite some time and Ursula 'fond of lying' and ilk will never let the UK rejoin without even worse crippling conditions than we endure now.

Best to look towards other trading partners if the EU is not willing maybe even 'gasp of all gasps' join the BRICS ?

Again this message proves, he does not know much of the EU: Ursula is only the president of the EU Commission, a kind of ministerial body without the power of it, as.. the comity to make decisions was and is the EU Council, consisting of the leaders of Government of the EU member states, would be Mr Andy Burnham.

And… BRICS: what economical advantages that would be for the UK ?

As long as Nigel Farage is still voted for in majority, there is no place for a country like that in the EU.

Just now, The Cyclist said:

What increase in trade ?

The UK was running an £8 -10 Billion a month trade deficit as part of the EU.

Most Politicians, ex Politicians and hangers on, are still spewing that they have missed out on a seat on the EU gravy train.

what's the deficit now?

40 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

what's the deficit now?

Having Burnham as PM!