Andy Burnham has refused to rule out the UK rejoining the European Union at some point in the future.
The prime minister said he was focused on the EU summit later this year and his priority was “to build on the good work that Keir Starmer did in rebuilding bridges.”
However, he said questions about Britain’s EU membership were “for another day,” and did not explicitly deny the possibility of Labour including a pledge to rejoin the bloc in a future manifesto.
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In recent months, a number of senior Labour figures, such as Wes Streeting and Sadiq Khan – and even some significant Tory voices – have suggested Labour should consider rejoining the customs union to reverse Britain’s economic malaise.
Khan has directly called for Labour to include such a pledge on their next manifesto, something we have also previously argued would be a clear way for the party to boost their support in any general election battle against Reform and the Tories.
Before entering Number 10, Burnham had also made clear his disdain for Brexit, saying he wants to see Britain return to the EU within his lifetime.
With public opinion on Brexit having clearly shifted, the disastrous impact it has had on the British economy now being undeniable and the US no longer being anything like a reliable ally for Britain, it seems a perfect storm is brewing for EU membership to be back on the table.
Whilst Burnham isn’t yet calling for a ‘Breturn’, he certainly isn’t ruling it out as a future Labour manifesto commitment, the Telegraph reports.
Speaking while he was on his way to New York for the UN General Assembly, Burnham said: “Our focus at the moment is on a UK-EU summit, which we hope will take place later this year.
“And as I said, my immediate priority is to build on the good work that Keir [Starmer] did in rebuilding bridges, because those bridges were broken in the early part of this decade. Keir did a good job in re-establishing that relationship.
“What we have got to do is now go to the next level in terms of reaching practical agreement that will further boost the British economy, and those issues are the substance of the summit alongside EU requests around youth mobility.
“The other issues you discuss, they are for another day.”
Over the weekend, new research from Best for Britain found that 99% of constituencies in the UK support rejoining the EU.