UK-EU customs union (duty to negotiate): Ten Minute Rule Motion

Parliament voted on 9 December 2025 on whether to allow a Liberal Democrat bill to proceed that would legally require the government to negotiate a customs union with the European Union. The vote tied at 100 ayes to 100 noes, triggering the Speaker's casting vote. Speaker Caroline Nokes voted with the ayes, following the long-standing convention that a casting vote should allow further debate rather than block a bill at its earliest stage. The bill passed its first procedural hurdle and is scheduled for a second reading on 16 January 2026. The bill, introduced by Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath, Liberal Democrat), would place a statutory duty on the Secretary of State to enter into negotiations with the EU to agree a customs union. A customs union would eliminate tariffs on goods traded between the UK and EU and align the UK to a common external tariff, reducing the trade barriers that have existed since the UK left the EU's single market and customs union. The bill does not compel a particular outcome, only the opening of negotiations. Its practical effect, if it became law, would be to constrain government discretion on post-Brexit trade policy. The vote divided sharply along Brexit lines rather than purely party lines. All 89 voting Conservatives opposed the bill, as did all six voting Reform UK members and one independent. The Liberal Democrats delivered 67 of the 100 aye votes and were the bill's driving force. The Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party voted entirely in favour. Labour's position was the most striking feature: 346 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs had no vote recorded, while 12 Labour MPs voted aye and 3 voted no.