Yellowfin Tune

Rachel Reeves, LBC 6 February 2023 RACHEL REEVES: Well, I voted to remain in the European Union, I thought that was in our national interest. But almost seven years have passed now, we are outside the single market and the Customs Union, we have to forge a path outside. The last thing I want for our country is to restart the division that occurred during that referendum. IAIN DALE: If you believe coming out of the single market was so awful, if you believe coming out of the Customs Union has had bad effects if you think the lack of freedom of movement has damaged our economy, why wouldn't you argue to go back into those or allow those? RACHEL REEVES: Because those decisions have been made. And we are now outside, and I don't think it would be good for our economy and for business if we started a whole load of protracted negotiations over a period of time. What I'm putting on the table and what Keir is putting on the table are practical things that could be done now to make it easier for British businesses to trade across the European Union. The status quo is not working, we want to improve on it. But I don't want to go back to the terrible division that we had in our country over many years through these negotiations. IAIN DALE: Isn't the simple truth it's political expediency? Because you know that you'll find it more difficult to win back those Red Wall seats if you don't have a sort of bit of a Eurosceptic line in your policy line-up. RACHEL REEVES: No, it's a genuine belief and from talking to businesses, that what they want are some of the practical changes that we've started to put on the table to make our trading relationship easier. And the idea that another seven years of negotiations is going to serve our economy. Well, I just don't think it will. And it will open up the divisions, which I think did huge damage to us as a country and I don't want to reopen them.