Andy Burnham has opened the door to reopening the Brexit battle “another day” after refusing to rule out making membership of the European Union a manifesto commitment.
The Prime Minister, who last year declared he wants the UK to rejoin the EU in his lifetime, insisted Labour is now focused on strengthening cross-Channel relations ahead of this year’s summit with Brussels.
Labour figures have moved closer to unpicking Brexit in recent months, with Defence Secretary Wes Streeting suggesting the UK should consider rejoining the customs union.
Sir Keir Starmer, who was once an advocate of a second referendum on Brexit, won the 2024 General Election after vowing not to sign up to either the single market or customs union.
Speaking to reporters ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump, Mr Burnham refused to rule out a manifesto commitment to rejoin the EU.
The Prime Minister 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.”
Mr Burnham, who is expected to meet European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen this week, initially appeared to U-turn on his previous comments about rejoining the EU during his by-election campaign in Makerfield.
“I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU,” Mr Burnham said.
“I respect the decision that was made at the referendum. It’s going to undermine everything I’ve said about strengthening democracy if we don’t respect that vote.”
However, with Labour MPs becoming increasingly jittery about Europe, Mr Burnham has consistently blasted Brexiteers and blamed the UK’s departure from the Brussels bloc for the country’s economic woes.
In his first speech to the Commons as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham argued that “Brexit compounded the damage” of Thatcherism by “ushering in a decade of low growth and stalled regeneration”.
“Unless we are blunt about what went wrong, we won’t turn things around,” he added.
Speaking to reporters earlier today, Mr Burnham was also asked about whether the UK could follow in Canada’s footsteps by becoming an associate member of the continental club.
Mr Burnham said the EU had “made it clear that that wasn’t open to us” but stressed he would address the “wider point” of Brexit in his speech to the UN.
The Prime Minister added: “Going into the next decade, we need to be clear-eyed about that, and become stronger and more on the front foot about challenging that.”
However, concerns about Labour backpedalling on Brexit came just days after Europe Minister Hamish Falconer refused to rule out rejoining the bloc.
Opinion polls suggest the public would now vote to rejoin, with YouGov putting the margin at 53 per cent to 29 per cent.
But Brexiteers have told GB News that such polls do not necessarily capture how voters would respond to the practical terms of any return, particularly if membership meant renewed financial contributions, free movement or accepting EU rules.
They believe support for rejoining would likely fall once the details of a proposed deal became clear and voters were confronted with the costs and obligations attached to membership.
Eurosceptics are now looking to mobilise ahead of the next general election.
Lord Matthew Elliott, the former chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign, warned in June: “Brexiteers need to, in a sense, get back on the playing field and continue to be proud of how they voted and proud of where the country is going by making the case that we need to make the most of Brexit powers and making the case that it will be disastrous to rejoin.”