Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey refused to say whether he want the UK to rejoin the EU in a feisty TV clash with Ed Balls over Brexit.
The former Labour minister and Good Morning Britain host pointed out that the Lib Dem website states they stand for “ultimately rejoining the EU”.
Mr Balls challenged Mr Davey to say whether he would push Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to reverse Brexit as part of any coalition deal in the event of a hung parliament.
Sir Ed said he was pleased the presenter was reading the Lib Dems’ website – but said: “At the moment [rejoining the EU] is not the issue, the issue is rebuilding trust with our European friends and neighbours.”
The ITV presenter replied: “It says it on the website.” Asked again why the pledge was on the Lib Dem website, Sir Ed said Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal was “hurting our economy”.
He added: “We need to make sure the red tape that the Conservatives have wrapped up our exporters with is got rid of. I’m really clear – the Liberal Democrats want a closer relationship with our trading partners.”
Mr Balls again pressure the party leader to say whether he wanted Britain to rejoin the EU and whether it would be in the Lib Dems’ manifesto, Sir Ed fired back: “I’m not writing the manifesto here and now.”
GMB host Susannah Reid then asked the party leader three times: “Do you want to rejoin the EU or not?”
Mr Davey: “The key issue today facing our country is not that … What I want to do is rebuild our relationships with Europe. We need to get our country to a place where we can trade more effectively and we’re nowhere near that.”
The Liberal Democrats have been reluctant to talk about reversing Brexit since the terrible election results of 2019. But the party did set out a roadmap at last year’s conference for Britain rejoining the EU single market.
A policy paper backed by the party’s leadership says that “the best option, bringing most benefits to the UK economy and society, is to seek to join the single market”.
Former Lib Dem leader Vince Cable has said Sir Ed would demand electoral reform as the price for a coalition government if Labour fall short of a majority at the general election.
Mr Cable has said “serious, but deniable, conversations will be taking place over the next year” between Labour and the Lib Dems about arrangements – but said a more informal confidence deal without a guarantee on proportional representation (PR).
Writing on Comment Central, Mr Cable said: “Ed Davey is right not to rule out a coalition with Labour but it is highly unlikely that the Lib Dems would go into such an arrangement this side of electoral reform being delivered.”
The Brexit row comes as food sector bosses told The Independent that a new wave of red tape on EU imports could push up prices and see more shortages in the supermarkets.
Industry chiefs are worried that port authorities are unprepared for the implementation of a series of checks that are set to be phased in from October 2023 under Boris Johnson’s exit deal with Brussels.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is concerned that the next wave could see disruption at Dover and other ports, which could in turn lead to gaps in fruit and vegetables on the shelves.
And Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association, said that the extra burden of new paperwork and fees will see some small, specialist importers “struggle to survive”.
