Overview
- Lib Dem MP Al Pinkerton’s motion to open talks on a bespoke UK–EU customs arrangement advanced after a 100–100 Commons tie was decided by Deputy Speaker Caroline Noakes.
- Thirteen Labour backbenchers, including Treasury committee chair Dame Meg Hillier, voted for the plan, while most Labour MPs did not record a vote and a handful opposed it.
- Downing Street and senior ministers reiterated that rejoining a customs union is not government policy, following Deputy PM David Lammy’s recent remarks about perceived benefits.
- The measure is set for a second-reading debate on 16 January and remains unlikely to pass without government support.
- The Lib Dem proposal envisages an arrangement covering most goods but excluding agriculture, potentially reducing trade frictions at the expense of independent trade‑deal autonomy.