PRO-EUROPE groups in Oxford are aiming to place themselves at the centre of the battle to re-join the EU’s customs union and single market, with a Labour peer telling them it needs to happen “as soon as possible”.

Lord Andrew Adonis called for action to tackle labour shortages and avoid permanent damage to Britain when he addressed a meeting hosted by Oxford European Association (OEA) and Oxford for Europe.

“Brexit isn’t working, as the empty shelves and closed petrol stations of recent months demonstrate,” said Adonis.

“It is time to reverse Brexit step by step, and I am delighted that Oxford is in the vanguard of the campaign to take Britain back into the customs union and single market, which we need to re-join as soon as possible if our economy and society are not to suffer irreparable damage.”

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However, while Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, agreed partly with Adonis’s remarks, he told The National: “His problem is Labour and the Lib Dems have run away from this.

“Brexit is making us poorer and Labour are sitting on the sidelines.”

Oxford’s Young European Movement told the meeting about the impact of Brexit on young people across the UK, while the city’s Polish Association spoke of post-Brexit problems for Polish workers and a feeling that they are no longer welcome in the UK, which was pushing them to leave.

The Government’s independent financial watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has already admitted that Brexit has worsened shortages in the UK.

It said the shortages of labour, products and services, had been “exacerbated” by new immigration rules for EU citizens and trade barriers with the bloc.

Despite the OBR admitting the negative impact from Brexit, Tory ministers have avoided any such confirmation.

During his Budget announcement, Chancellor Rishi Sunak would only say the disruption would last for months, despite the PBR’s contention that “supply bottlenecks have been exacerbated by changes in the migration and trading regimes following Brexit”.

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OEA secretary and former Labour councillor, John Tanner, told The London Economic that Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” sound bite was preventing the UK from “building back better” and “levelling up”.

“While some people have lost heart over Brexit in Oxford, we are determined to shout about the everyday issues caused by being separated from the rest of Europe,” he said.

“It is no good the Government hiding behind the pandemic or claiming it’s just teething problems.

“Labour shortages, empty shelves and the situation in the north of Ireland are all made worse by Britain being outside the European Union.”