Starmer says closer ties with EU single market preferable to a customs union

Prime minister gives clearest sign yet that government is seeking to further deepen Britain’s links with Brussels

Closer ties with the EU single market are preferable to a customs union, Keir Starmer has said, in his clearest sign yet that the government is seeking to further deepen links with Brussels.

The prime minister said the UK should consider “even closer alignment” with the single market. “If it’s in our national interest … then we should consider that, we should go that far,” he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.