‘Who knows what will be in the next manifesto’ on Europe
The TUC general secretary — who voiced support for a U.K.-EU customs union in 2025 — appeared to suggest that he believes Labour’s next election manifesto could end the party’s refusal to countenance either a customs union or single market relationship with Brussels.
“We need the closest possible working relationship and closest possible economic relationship,” he said. Citing Donald Trump’s tariffs on the automotive industry, he added: “We’ve got to avoid a situation where we are effectively held hostage by which side of the bed the president of the United States rolls out of in the morning.”
He went on: “Obviously the government has got the red lines it went into the last election with, and the commitments it made in the manifesto. I think the relationship is going to develop over time, and who knows what will be in the next manifesto?
“All I want is when both parties sit down at that U.K.-EU summit, we’re thinking about what is the best possible deal for U.K. jobs, for U.K. workers, and for not just closer economic ties, but also that Britain plays an important role in Europe politically.”
While the TUC does not engage with Farage’s Reform UK, Nowak speaks to the Liberal Democrats and Green Party, whose leader, Zack Polanski, he last met “about four or five months ago.”
Nowak suggested the Downing Street of previous Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who quit in July under pressure from his own MPs, had not fully appreciated the importance of trade unions to the wider country. “Sometimes it felt there was a sense that unions were stakeholders to be managed,” he said. “We represent millions of people at work … sometimes that was a frustration.”
However, Nowak said he is “heartened” by an initial bounce in poll ratings for Burnham’s Labour. “I’m confident we can get relationships with Andy Burnham and his government on the right footing right from the start,” he added.