Owen Smith: stay in customs union to avoid Irish hard border

Owen Smith said Labour’s position was that the UK had to stay in the single market and customs union, at least for the transitional period.Owen Smith, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, has waded into the row about Labour’s Brexit stance, warning the return of border posts in Northern Ireland will be unavoidable without the UK “effectively retaining membership of the single market and the customs union”.As he prepared to visit Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic t