David Lammy has given the clearest hint yet that Labour plans to rejoin the EU customs union.

The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday refused seven times to rule out reversing Brexit, arguing that leaving the EU ‘badly damaged our economy’ and saying Labour should integrate more with Brussels.

In a clear suggestion that ministers could pursue closer ties with the bloc, he said rejoining the customs union was not ‘currently’ the Government’s policy, but that it was ‘self-evident’ that other countries had ‘seen growth’ after doing so.

His remarks will spark accusations that Labour plans to reverse Brexit and rejoin the EU by the back door.

Keir Starmer has pledged to reset relations with the EU, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves has blamed Brexit for Britain’s economic woes.

Asked on the News Agents podcast if he would like to see Britain rejoin the customs union, Mr Lammy said: ‘That is not currently our policy. That’s not currently where we are.

‘But you can see countries like Turkey with a customs union seemingly benefiting and seeing growth in their economy, and again, that’s self-evident.’

David Lammy (pictured) has given the clearest hint yet that Labour plans to rejoin the EU customs union

Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during the banquet at the Guildhall on December 4

He added that his comments were ‘subject to collective responsibility’, implying that he was not free to diverge from party policy.

Darren Jones, Sir Keir’s chief secretary, rebuked Mr Lammy in the Commons yesterday, stating that Labour’s policy would be announced in Parliament, not ‘on podcasts’.

It came as the German president hinted at a post-Brexit reset with the UK by citing the Oasis song Don’t Look Back in Anger.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier ­referenced the feuding brothers who have reunited to describe the EU’s relationship with Britain.

He told MPs and peers that after the UK left the bloc there was disappointment and uncertainty but that both sides had decided ‘not to stay stuck in these feelings’.

‘Don’t look back in anger, as one of the most famous songs by Oasis puts it so well,’ he said during his address to Parliament on the second day of his state visit.

Declaring ‘our love remains’, he urged Britain not to look to the past ‘but rather together to the future’.

Mr Steinmeier said the first UK-EU summit since Brexit in May ‘sent an important message’, as did a partnership agreement signed by the UK and Germany in July, known as the Kensington Treaty.

And he highlighted steps being taken, such as plans for a youth mobility scheme, to facilitate school trips and exchanges.