CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves’s dash for growth has hit fresh turbulence as ministers ruled out joining a European customs arrangement but announced moves to scrap planning restrictions on major projects.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the government did not currently have any plans to join the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention, which allows tariff-free trade in materials for manufacturing supply chains across Europe and north Africa.

EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who leads on the bloc’s links with Britain, made the suggestion following PM Sir Keir Starmer’s stated aim of “resetting” trade links across the Channel.