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The UK is prepared to align even more closely with the EU single market if the move is in the national interest, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. Starmer insisted Britain should ‘go further’ in strengthening post-Brexit ties with Brussels following a trade deal agreed earlier this year. But he appeared to pour cold water on suggestions the UK should re-join a customs union with the bloc after his Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the arrangement had ‘enormous economic benefits’. Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show, the prime minister pointed to steps taken to align with the EU more closely on agriculture and food, adding: ‘That’s the sovereign decision that we have taken. ‘I think we should get closer, and if it’s in our national interest to have even closer alignment with the single market, then we should consider that, we should go that far.’ Starmer added: ‘I think it’s in our national interest to go further. ‘What I would say about the customs union is that I argued for a customs union for many years with the EU, but a lot of water has now gone under the bridge. ‘I do understand why people are saying ’wouldn’t it be better to go to the customs union?’ I actually think that now we’ve done deals with the US which are in our national interest, now we’ve done deals with India which are in our national interest, we are better looking to the single market rather than the customs union for our further alignment.’ But the prime minister insisted freedom of movement a core principle of the EU single market was off the table as he faced questions about what concessions he was willing to offer in return. Asked whether he was prepared to allow EU citizens with no limit to come to the UK, he said: ‘No. ‘But we are looking at a youth mobility scheme which will be for young people to travel, to work, to enjoy themselves in different European countries, to have that experience.’ It comes after speculation over the future of the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the bloc was reignited when the Health Secretary backed a ‘deeper trading relationship’ with Europe in comments to the Observer. The interview was seen by some as a direct challenge to Starmer from Streeting, who last year was forced to deny plotting to unseat the prime minister after a Labour briefing war. Starmer has recently faced pressure from his own backbenchers to change course on a customs union, with some 13 Labour MPs backing proposals that would pave the way for such an arrangement in a Commons vote last month. Downing Street said later in December that the government will be sticking to its ‘red lines’ on the EU relationship, which include not rejoining the single market, customs union or returning to freedom of movement. By Nina Lloyd, Press Association Political Correspondent source: PA Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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