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Britain must urgently rebuild ties with Europe if Donald Trump is elected on Tuesday, pro-EU campaigners have warned.
With the prospect of a brutal global trade war looming, critics of the UK’s current Brexit deal have said the country needs to rejoin the customs union, single market or the bloc itself to shield itself from the devastating fallout.
The former president has threatened to impose tariffs on all imports to America if he returns to the White House, which would cripple the UK and global economy. The US is Britain’s single biggest trade partner by far, above Germany, the Netherlands, France and China.
And Mr Trump has threatened a blanket 10 per cent tariff on all imports, with the levy rising as high as 60 per cent for goods from China. He has said “tariff is my favourite word”, but critics have warned the fallout of his protectionism would be higher prices for consumers in the US and globally.
And, amid fears a solitary UK would face a heightened impact, campaigners called for Sir Keir Starmer to urgently rebuild trade ties with the EU to insulate the country from the trade war that would follow Mr Trump’s re-election.
Former Liberal Democrat minister Sir Nick Harvey said Britain must “make a clear choice to be part of a strong Europe”, both in terms of strength on defence and security and trade and the economy.
Sir Nick, chief executive of the European Movement UK, told The Independent a Trump win could add to the urgent need for Britain to build stronger ties with Europe – but stressed that Europe can no longer reply on protection from the US no matter who wins.
He added: “The time for posturing on the sidelines is over. Sensible conversations are more crucial than ever before, about the damage of leaving the European Union, and what shape our future relationship should take.”
And SNP MP Stephen Gethins told The Independent that post-Brexit Britain is “more isolated than at any other time in the post war period”.
That leaves us more vulnerable in terms of hard security as well as to the impact of a trade war,” he added. Mr Gethins said: “The best means of protecting ourselves and making us more secure is to rejoin the EU, and at least the Single Market. At a time when other European democracies are enhancing security cooperation and deepening trade links, it is the best means of protecting ourselves in a more dangerous world with an increasingly isolationist US that will remain a reality regardless of tonight’s result.”
Naomi Smith, chief executive of the Best for Britain campaign group said: “With weaker democratic guardrails and an administration of loyalists, Trump has pledged to use a second term to drive through draconian tariffs on all imports to the US including those from the UK, posing a real risk to growth.”
But, while warning of the danger of a second Trump term, Ms Smith called for the prime minister to pursue closer ties with Europe regardless.
She said: “The UK Government must make our economy less vulnerable by rebuilding ties with our closest neighbours and allies in Europe through beneficial alignment, mutual recognition of qualifications and standards, plus a reciprocal youth mobility scheme.”
The prime minister has promised to fix Britain’s damaged relationship with the European Union for the benefit of “generations to come”.
But Sir Keir has ruled out rejoining the single market and customs union or reinstating freedom of movement with the bloc.
So far, the PM’s post-Brexit reset has yielded little positive progress, with further talks scheduled with EU leaders later this year and in the first half of 2025.
