26 February 2018updated 09 Jun 2021 9:33am

Supporting a customs union is a no-brainer for Labour – but harder for Corbyn

As one of his closest allies put it me recently, “Jeremy’s heart” is still that of a Eurosceptic.

Brexit is “what we make of it together”, Jeremy Corbyn will say in Coventry later today. In this case, cynics might say, what we make of it is “an opportunity to defeat the government”.

The Labour leader will announce a small shift in the party’s position, to supporting a customs union with the European Union after Brexit. (The “a/the” division isn’t just semantics: membership of the customs union is conditional upon EU membership, but Turkey, Andorra and San Marino are all members of a customs union with the EU.)

There will be something in the speech for Labour’s Leave voters, too, with a pledge to negotiate a relationship that allows the United Kingdom freedom from EU rules across a variety of subjects.

The Labour leadership’s aim from Brexit is to get as far away from the European Court of Justice as possible, but they also want to defeat and replace the government. As Theresa May’s agenda, other than Brexit, is incredibly thin stuff, that pushes the party into a more pro-European position than it might otherwise have. Add to that the policy preferences of the trade unions and the desire to prevent the emergence of a hard border on the island of Ireland, and the politics of supporting a continued EU-UK customs union are a no-brainer as far as Labour are concerned.

But they aren’t without cost as far Corbyn is concerned, either. As one of his closest allies put it me recently, “Jeremy’s heart” is still that of a Eurosceptic. I wouldn’t be surprised if, as well, as the shift in the party’s position on customs, there is also something more tangible in the speech for Leave voters. Labour’s ambiguous position may have a few twists left in it yet.