TUC leader calls on Starmer to consider customs union as part of closer EU ties

Keir Starmer should seek out a far closer relationship with Europe, including a possible customs union, the head of the TUC has said.

- Jessica Elgot

Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said the British public recognised the need for a vastly improved trading arrangement and that it had become more urgent than ever because of the fickle nature of the relationship with Donald Trump's United States.

In an interview with the Guardian, Nowak said Starmer must relentlessly focus on the cost of living to improve Labour's standing in the polls, saying it was little surprise there was leadership chatter when the party was doing so badly.

But he warned would-be challengers they would "not be thanked" by the public for distracting the government from its core focus on the economy.

He also cautioned Starmer and the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, not to be "Nigel Farage-lite" when it came to the migration crackdown, saying unions were worried about reforms to indefinite leave to remain.

Nowak's new year's message urged the government to do all it could to help ordinary families, with new polling showing four in five households say their financial circumstances are either stagnant or getting worse.

The union chief said a customs union with the EU should be explored as a way of growing the economy.