Ed Davey will call on the government to negotiate a new customs union with the European Union (EU) to “turbocharge our economy in the medium and long term.”
Delivering his first major speech of 2025, the Liberal Democrat leader will criticise the government for ruling out a customs union arrangement with the EU, arguing such a deal would allow the UK to handle “president Trump from a position of strength, not weakness.”
Davey will also criticise the Conservative Party and its leader Kemi Badenoch for wanting to go “cap in hand” to Donald Trump and “beg for whatever trade deal he’ll give us.”
Nigel Farage’s “fawning” approach to the US president-elect suggests he is “more interested in advancing Trump’s agenda over here than the UK’s interests over there”, Davey will add.
The Lib Dem leader is expected to say: “The UK must be far more positive, far more ambitious, and act with far more urgency. That is why, today, I am calling on the government to negotiate a brand-new deal with the EU this year.
“Not just tinkering around the edges of the botched deal the Conservatives signed four years ago. But negotiating a much better deal for Britain, that has at its heart a new UK-EU customs union, to come into force by twenty-thirty at the latest.
“Forming a customs union with the EU is not only the single biggest thing we can do to turbocharge our economy in the medium and long term. But an agreement to work towards one would unlock big economic benefits for the UK now and start tearing down those damaging Conservative trade barriers this year. It would be a win-win for our country, and I still can’t understand why the government continues to rule it out.”
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Turning to Badenoch and Farage, the leaders of the Conservative Party and Reform UK respectively, Davey is expected add: “The answer cannot be to do what some – like the Leader of the Conservative Party – would have us do. Approach Trump from a position of weakness. Go to him cap in hand and beg for whatever trade deal he’ll give us.
“Nor can we take the Farage approach of fawning over Trump and licking his boots, seemingly more interested in advancing Trump’s agenda over here than the UK’s interests over there.
“Neither of those is the way to get a good deal for Britain or get Trump to take us seriously. If we seem as weak or as desperate as the Conservatives or Reform would have us appear, Trump will treat the UK the same way he has treated so many throughout his career.”
On the dilemma of how to deal with a second Trump presidency, the Liberal Democrat leader is expected to say: “How do we deal with Trump from strength? The answer is to show we are not so reliant on the United States. That the UK has alternatives, and won’t be bullied into taking whatever Trump offers us.
“And we do that by urgently strengthening our relationships with the UK’s other partners. Whether that be Commonwealth nations like Canada and India, also figuring out how to deal with Trump. Or, most importantly, our European neighbours, whose economic and security interests are so closely intertwined with ours.
“We can rebuild our crucial relationship with Europe so much faster. That is how we can protect our economy, defend European security, and deal with president Trump from a position of strength, not weakness.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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