Britain could one day join a reformed EU, hints Theresa May's de facto deputy David Lidington 

David Lidington
David Lidington in his office in the Cabinet Office Credit: Geoff Pugh for The Telegraph

Britain could rejoin a reformed European Union within a generation, Theresa May’s de facto deputy prime minister has suggested, as he said it would be “something for future parliaments to consider”.

David Lidington, the Cabinet Office Minister who replaced Damian Green at Mrs May’s side in this month’s reshuffle, said it was impossible to predict what the EU will look like in “10 or 20 years’ time”.

Mr Lidington, who campaigned for Remain during the EU Referendum, said he had not changed his views on Brexit but as a democrat it was his job to implement the will of the people.

The former Europe minister, who is now arguably the country’s most powerful politician after Mrs May, chairs several key Cabinet sub-committees on Brexit after taking over Mr Green’s responsibilities.

In his first interview since taking on the new role, he also told The Telegraph it was possible Britain could join some form of customs union with the EU after Brexit.

The Government is committed to leaving the single market and the customs union on Brexit day next year, but Mr Lidington said if there was “some different framework that we can arrive at in negotiations that will be mutually beneficial” it could work to “everybody’s advantage”.

Since moving to the Cabinet Office from his previous role as Justice Secretary, Mr Lidington has spent most of his time taking charge of the fallout from the collapse of the outsourcing giant Carillion.

He said that “clearly we are going to need to learn lessons from Carillion” but rejected Jeremy Corbyn’s suggestion that outsourcing had become a “racket” or that PFI contracts should be taken back under public sector control.

However, he conceded that in the past too many contracts may have been given to too few companies and a Government review of the Carillion collapse will look into whether more contracts should be given to small and medium-sized companies in the future.

Earlier this week Justine Greening, the former education secretary, suggested that future generations of MPs could “undo” Brexit if it did not “work for them”.

Emmanuel Macron, the French President, has also said the UK could “find its place” in a “reformed and simplified EU” within a few years of leaving.

Asked whether Mr Macron and Ms Greening could be right, Mr Lidington said it was a “red herring” to suggest Britain could rejoin the EU in its current form. 

But he added: “We may be looking in a generation’s time at an EU that is configured differently from what it is today. The exact nature of the relationship between the United Kingdom and that future system, whatever it turns out to be, of European cooperation is something that future parliaments, future generations will have to consider.”

In an interview with a French TV station, Mrs May was asked “do you feel European” and replied “Yes”, and also refused once again to say whether she would vote Leave if the EU referendum happened now.

She said: “If a vote was to come up, I would do what I did last time round which was sit down and look carefully at the issues.”

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