After almost a month out of the headlines, Brexit will return to the top of the agenda next Tuesday with the conclusion of negotiations between the government and Labour.
Both sides sounded optimistic this week about reaching a common position on the UK’s customs arrangements with the European Union. Theresa May has long ruled out membership of a customs union after Brexit, which has been a central demand of the Labour leadership.
But the prime minister suggested on Wednesday that she could now accept a customs union – as long as it was called something else.
“Various terms are used in relation to customs. Sometimes people use different terms to mean the same thing,” she told the House of Commons liaison committee. “We are sitting down and talking about what it is that we both want to achieve in relation [to customs]. I think actually there is a greater commonality in terms of some of the benefits of a customs union that we have already identified between ourselves and the official opposition.”
A couple of hours earlier, Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman agreed “the name isn’t the most important thing”, adding that the government’s approach had moved during the talks.
“I think we have seen clear evidence that the government is prepared to explore shifts in its position and that is what we need to nail down: how far and where those shifts are going to go,” he said. “We haven’t yet locked down the essential movement that would be needed, however it is approached, but it is being discussed.”