Ex-Tory chancellor says economy has ‘fallen off a cliff’ since Brexit but rejoining union could be ‘quite simple’
Press AssociationSun 13 Sep 2026 06.48 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleFormer chancellor George Osborne said Britain’s economy has “fallen off a cliff” since Brexit and that rejoining the European Union’s customs union would be the fastest route to recovery.
Osborne, who resigned as chancellor after being part of David Cameron’s cabinet at the time of the referendum, said it was important to rebuild links with the EU.
“Brexit has been a mess,” he told The Independent. “Britain has basically gone off a cliff. It has had a huge impact on the British economy. It is clearly poorer than it would otherwise be.”
Acknowledging that rejoining the EU would be difficult a decade on from the Brexit referendum, Osborne said closer ties with Europe can boost the economy.
“I would rejoin the customs union,” he said. “It’s a quite simple thing to do. That was never part of the Brexit debate. No one knew we were leaving it and it has had a devastating impact on trade.
“The reason we weren’t supposed to be in the customs union – according to the Brexiteers – was these great trade deals we were going to strike with America. That all looks pretty fanciful now.
“People now realise you can’t look at Britain’s growth problem without beginning to think, ‘How can we revive trade with the continent, how can we get investment?’
“If I was Andy Burnham, I don’t see why you wouldn’t rejoin the customs union. It’s a pretty straightforward decision because unlike (rejoining) the single market it does not require you to accept the free movement of people – which is a pretty complicated issue to sell to people in Britain at the moment.”
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