Former Chancellor George Osborne has sparked fury among Brexiteers after suggesting Britain should rejoin the European Union's customs union to help the ailing economy.
The former Tory Chancellor said the UK's economy has "fallen off a cliff" since leaving the EU and that rejoining the trade bloc would be the fastest route to recovery. Mr Osborne, who resigned from the Treasury role after serving in David Cameron's cabinet during the Brexit referendum, said it was important to rebuild links with the EU.
Osborne's criticism of Brexit
"Brexit has been a mess," he said in an interview with The Independent. "Britain has basically gone off a cliff. It has had a huge impact on the British economy. It is clearly poorer than it would otherwise be."
Acknowledging that rejoining the EU would be difficult a decade on from the Brexit referendum, Mr Osborne said closer ties with Europe can boost the economy.
"I would rejoin the customs union," he said. "It's a quite simple thing to do. That was never part of the Brexit debate. No one knew we were leaving it and it has had a devastating impact on trade."
Reaction from Brexiteers
"The reason we weren't supposed to be in the customs union – according to the Brexiteers – was these great trade deals we were going to strike with America. That all looks pretty fanciful now," he added.
"People now realise you can't look at Britain's growth problem without beginning to think, 'how can we revive trade with the continent, how can we get investment?'"
Mr Osborne also suggested that Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham should consider backing rejoining the customs union. "If I was Andy Burnham, I don't see why you wouldn't rejoin the customs union. It's a pretty straightforward decision because unlike (rejoining) the single market it does not require you to accept the free movement of people – which is a pretty complicated issue to sell to people in Britain at the moment."
But David Bannerman, a prominent Brexiteer and former MEP, hit out at Mr Osborne's remarks. "Osborne was always trouble," he posted on X. "Remember his Referendum threat of £35bn tax rises from an Emergency Budget if Brexit succeeded - never necessary. He is said to want to send the Marbles to Greece."
Debate over Brexit's impact
Brexit's impact has been fiercely debated since Britain finally left the EU in January 2020. The immediate recession predicted in the Treasury forecasts ordered by Mr Osborne – dubbed "project fear" by the Leave campaign – did not happen.
Meanwhile, the impact from the Covid pandemic, wars in Ukraine and Iran, and Donald Trump's trade battles have had an unprecedented impact on the UK economy, as well as many others around the world. The UK economy has spluttered in the two years since Labour came to power in 2024.
