British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn came out Monday in favor of Britain’s staying in a European customs union. Corbyn’s call to stay in a European customs group was enthusiastically supported by Britain’s top business lobbies, whose members complain that a hard Brexit will set the country back on its heels. The European customs union aids “frictionless” trade by allowing goods to cross borders among its member countries without duties. “There’s no bilateral trade deals in a customs union” — no Germany-China deals or Britain-U. May’s spokesman reacted to Corbyn’s speech by vowing that “the government will not be joining a customs union.

Source: Washington Post February 26, 2018 19:07 UTC