Alex Cole-Hamilton: A new customs union with Europe could work wonders - why won’t the UK Government seize it?
Nobody could accuse last week’s budget of being short on drama. It is completely unprecedented for a budget to leak before the Chancellor makes their budget speech.
It was surreal for everyone to be able to pour over its contents an hour before Rachel Reeves was up at the despatch box.
The manner of its appearance undoubtedly left a lot to be desired. Nevertheless, it was in the substance of its pages that we discovered a botched budget from a Chancellor who may have diagnosed the disease but is refusing to administer the cure.
For the millions of people struggling to make ends meet, all this budget really delivered was more tax. That's piled on top of the hike on employer national insurance contributions affecting everyone from small businesses to care homes and hospices.
Fundamentally this is a government that has turned its back on the single most effective step it could take to kickstart economic growth: fixing our broken relationship with Europe. A proper ambitious deal with Europe - with a customs union at its heart - would slash costs for businesses, boost growth and help end the cost of living crisis.
House of Commons Library analysis commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that the UK is losing £250 million every day in tax revenue due to the economic impact of Brexit. The average Brit is thousands of pounds worse off because of the Conservatives’ Brexit deal.
In her speech, the Chancellor gave one passing mention to Brexit. One. That was it. She failed entirely to set out any steps to fix the deep, financial scars inflicted on this country by the likes of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and - let’s not forget - Nigel Farage.
Rachel Reeves should have used the budget to announce a new customs union with the EU. Research has shown that a better trade deal like this would turbocharge our economy and could raise more than £25 billion a year for the Exchequer.
With that revenue, we can stop piling endless amounts of tax on struggling households and high streets. With that revenue, we can tackle the cost of living, cut red tape for businesses and fix the utter mess left by Brexit.
Liberal Democrats currently have a bill before the UK Parliament- due to be voted on next week- which proposes that we begin negotiations with the EU over a new customs union.
We’ve written to all Labour MPs, calling on them to back the bill. A customs union with the EU is more than the elephant in the room. For as long as the UK Government continues to rule it out, a customs union is an enormous, wasted opportunity that could otherwise work wonders for households, high streets and businesses.
Beyond that, I was glad that the Chancellor has finally listened to Liberal Democrat calls to tax big online gambling companies more fairly and to scrap the two-child benefits cap, which will lift children out of poverty and save taxpayers money in the long term. There was action to bring down energy bills too, but it doesn't go far enough.
My party has a clear, realistic plan to escape the doom loop of a stagnant economy and increasing tax hikes. To deliver change with fairness at its heart, we need to be ambitious and bold. That starts by forging a stronger, profitable trading relationship with our European neighbours.