The CBI Brexit referendum stance is clear: companies do not want to re-run the 2016 vote and have no interest in rejoining the customs union, director-general Rain Newton-Smith said on the tenth anniversary of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Newton-Smith said: ‘The evidence is compelling and indisputable that Brexit has created costs for business. But businesses aren’t looking to re-litigate the referendum. None of the business leaders I speak to want to reopen that debate.’
CBI Brexit Referendum Stance: Customs Union Off the Table
The comments come as calls grow for a deeper rapprochement with Brussels, with trade specialists and economists warning that the Labour government’s reset deal with the EU, struck in May 2025, is not delivering substantial growth gains.
Newton-Smith acknowledged the costs but drew a firm line. ‘Five years ago, businesses would have supported joining the customs union. But the reality is the world has changed. So, no, CBI members aren’t asking to join the customs union,’ she said.
The UK signed trade deals with India and Gulf states as part of its post-Brexit strategy. The UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement was formally signed on 24 July 2025, following the conclusion of negotiations in May 2025. The agreement has not yet been ratified by the UK parliament and is expected to take at least a year to come into effect.
The EU remains the UK’s dominant trading partner. According to UK government figures, in 2024 almost half (46%) of total UK trade was with the EU. Around 94,500 UK businesses exported goods to the EU, while around 157,000 imported from it.
That scale of dependency shapes Newton-Smith’s concern about protectionism. She warned that Brussels moving towards ‘buy European’ policies risks shutting British firms out of continental value chains. ‘With the UK increasingly caught in the middle of American and Chinese industrial firepower, this is the very definition of a “lose-lose” outcome. We can’t let politics get in the way of our mutual competitiveness,’ she said.
Reset Deal and the Question of Succession
The UK-EU reset agreement struck in May 2025 included a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) arrangement designed to ease food and drink trade by cutting red tape and reducing lorry queues at the border. The UK government’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement implementation report for 2023-2024 confirmed the government’s manifesto commitment to reset EU relations while explicitly ruling out the single market, customs union, or freedom of movement.
Government modelling on one component of the reset indicates limited near-term upside. Official analysis suggests that linking the UK and EU Emissions Trading Schemes would provide a +0.1% GDP gain relative to the baseline, according to government modelling.
The political backdrop has shifted since the reset was agreed. With Sir Keir Starmer stepping down as Prime Minister, companies are scrutinising the position of his likely successor, Andy Burnham. Burnham had previously said he would like to rejoin the EU but has since backtracked, insisting membership was not a priority.
Newton-Smith’s message to whichever leader takes office is consistent with the CBI’s broader posture. At the organisation’s 2026 National Business Dinner, she delivered remarks under the heading ‘You cannot tax your way to growth’, framing business priorities around competitiveness rather than constitutional arrangements.
Whether Burnham, if he takes office, pushes for deeper EU integration beyond the current reset framework will be the first test of that positioning.
