'Labour has set easy trap for Kemi Badenoch - and she's walking straight into it'

Former Tory Chancellor George Osborne says Keir Starmer has acceptable an 'easy trap' for Kemi Badenoch by resetting relations with the EU - and she volition find it hard to onslaught it astatine the adjacent election

Labour has acceptable an "easy trap" for Kemi Badenoch - and she looks similar she's walking consecutive into it, erstwhile Tory Chancellor George Osborne says.

The austerity main said the Tories volition sprout themselves successful the ft if they support banging connected astir betraying Brexit. It comes arsenic Keir Starmer seeks a caller commercialized narration with Europe aft years of tension.

Mr Osborne said businesses volition consciousness the benefits of a caller narration - and Tories volition look stuck successful the past if they support connected opposing it. It comes aft polling shows implicit fractional of Brits regrets leaving the EU.

He said: "There is specified an casual trap present for the Labour authorities to acceptable for the Conservatives, and has the contiguous economical payment of doing thing that's going to assistance your GDP successful the adjacent fewer years: Do immoderate benignant of commercialized woody with the EU."

He said specified a woody could marque it easier to bash cultivation checks, redeeming billions of pounds a year. He told the Political Currency podcast: "So you fundamentally are digging a pit, you're putting the spikes in, and you're inviting Kemi Badenoch to locomotion into the pit. Because erstwhile the woody is done … Every British concern volition commencement to set to the caller trading narration that they person with the EU, the caller customs arrangements, which volition beryllium an betterment connected the ones that beryllium today.

"Then you get to the general election, and the Conservatives volition say, ‘it's outrageous, they betrayed Brexit, you know, they've conceded immoderate powerfulness to the European Court of Justice’ oregon whatever. They'll effort and rerun the Brexit run from 2016 which volition beryllium past past by then, and each concern volition spell ‘We are not going backmost to that. We are perfectly not going backmost into the Brexit chaos...’"

Mr Osborne said that reaching a caller woody with the EU volition "will triumph implicit the concern assemblage successful that azygous manoeuvre". He said the Tories "will beryllium stranded connected a benignant of ideological statement that truly lone has resonance with a tiny information of the population".

Labour has made it wide it volition not question a customs national with the bloc, oregon returning to a azygous market. And Keir Starmer has repeatedly said that a instrumentality to EU rank is not connected the cards.

Last week a damning canvass recovered 55% of voters judge it was an mistake to leave, and conscionable 11% accidental Brexit has been much of a occurrence than a failure.

YouGov recovered astir 2 thirds of Brits - 64% - enactment a person narration with the EU without formally rejoining. This includes six successful 10 permission voters, polling showed.

But Ms Badenoch told The Daily Express that she is "committed to warring to support our freedoms and protecting Brexit" arsenic she argued against cozying up to Europe.