SME4Labour at Labour Party Conference

Monday 28 September 2026 · ACC Liverpool

Gareth Thomas says Swiss-style EU deal would transform road haulage

Speakers at a full-house SME4Labour and Road Haulage Association panel said easing trade friction with the EU is now a priority, with agrifood, driver rules and border systems all in play.

A Swiss-style deal with the EU would be a game changer for the road haulage industry, Gareth Thomas MP has told a packed fringe at Labour's conference.

The session, Connecting the UK to International Markets: Road Haulage, Trade and Growth, was held by SME4Labour and the Road Haulage Association on Monday 28 September. It was chaired by Rachel Taylor MP, Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth.

The panel brought together:

• Gareth Thomas MP, Labour MP for Harrow West
• Oliver Ryan MP, Labour MP for Burnley
• Ruth Cadbury MP, Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth and Chair of the Transport Committee
• Declan Pang, Director of Policy & Public Affairs at the Road Haulage Association
• Marco Forgione, Director General of the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade

A blank canvas on EU policy

Ryan said the party has a blank canvas on EU policy following the change of leadership, with the public mood shifting and the new leadership keener to have the conversation. He said the UK has missed out on about £4 billion of agrifood exports since 2018. Measures such as a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, he said, could improve on that.

Thomas said the government recognised in 2024 how much damage the Brexit deal had done to exporters, and was concerned about further effects on road haulage. He called for clarity on when the UK-EU summit will take place, ideally before Christmas. The SPS agreement and a deal on electricity and emissions trading need to be nailed down, he said. None would have a dramatic impact alone, but they are crucial to rebuilding the relationship and setting the scene for future negotiations.

Borders and drivers

Cadbury said the Transport Committee had raised problems with the EU's entry/exit system, which affects drivers and passengers equally. She also said there is a policy vacuum on appropriate service facilities for HGV drivers.

Pang welcomed progress on the SPS agreement and said the end goal is a system where movement across the border is much simpler. The RHA said flexibility of labour is key, pointing to restrictions such as the 90/180-day rule on drivers working in Europe. It wants the government to take a more sectoral approach.

Security and supply chains

Forgione said the global environment has changed the picture. The focus now, he said, is not only on resilience but also on national security and supply chain infrastructure. He said the government has done a great deal of positive work since 2024 to rebuild relationships with the EU.

The discussion also questioned whether policy is simply digitising trade rather than simplifying it. For hauliers, the next test is the timing and content of the UK-EU summit.