Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has made a major U-turn on rejoining the European Union after Wes Streeting sparked a Brexit battle within the Labour Party.
Mr Streeting, who was accused of attempting to sabotage Mr Burnham’s Makerfield by-election campaign, publicly declared the UK should rejoin the Brussels bloc as he launched his leadership bid over the weekend.
Mr Burnham made a similar argument at last year’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool, telling attendees: “I hope, in my lifetime, I see this country rejoin the European Union.”
However, in a huge political pivot, Mr Burnham confirmed he will respect the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Speaking at the Great North Summit in Leeds, the Greater Manchester Mayor said: “I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU.
“I respect the decision that was made at the referendum and it’s going to undermine everything I’ve said about strengthening democracy if we don’t respect that vote.”
He added: “My view is that Brexit has been damaging.
“But I also believe the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments. Britain will be stuck in a permanent rut if we’re just constantly arguing and people are pulling away from each other.
Andy Burnham made the EU U-turn while delivering a speech in Leeds | PA
“It is time surely, isn’t it, to bring people back together, to focus on what we’ve got in common, to get the growth coming to all places. That is what we need in this moment.”
Mr Burnham, who previously represented Leigh in the House of Commons from 2001 to 2017, is hoping to stand as Labour’s candidate in the Brexit-backing seat of Makerfield on June 18.
Reform UK hopes to thwart Mr Burnham’s potential march to No10, with Nigel Farage suggesting the Greater Manchester Mayor’s comments on Brexit last year could prove decisive.
He said: “‘Open borders Burnham’ wants to give 500 million people the right to move here without any thought on how this would affect schools, doctors and dentists.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is targeting Makerfield | PA
“It’s quite clear that this by-election is now a choice between Reform, who want to stay outside of the EU, control immigration and deport all illegals, and Labour, who want to rejoin the EU and open the borders.”
However, Mr Burnham’s U-turn today follows warnings from Red Wall MPs about making Brexit a major issue.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who represents the neighbouring Brexit-backing seat of Wigan, told GB News: “To respond to that with reentering the European Union seems to me to be a fundamental misreading of what people are asking us for.
“If going back into the EU was the answer to the problems that people have in their lives, then we would be telling people in towns like mine that everything was fine in 2015. It absolutely wasn’t.”
The UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016 | GETTY
Meanwhile, Blue Labour MP Jonathan Hinder warned: “We are just over a week after we took a real beating in our working-class heartlands.
“It’s a very long list – we’re talking about the Hartlepools, the Grimsbys, Barnsley, places like Wigan, where this by-election is going to be, and we were losing to a party which until recently was called the Brexit Party.
“And to suggest the solution now is for us to reopen that debate is just staggering, and the Labour Party is in an existential crisis, it really is.
“The idea that we can reconnect to our working-class base by reopening this debate is just a staggering level of out-of-touch.”
Wes Streeting made a commitment to eventually rejoin the EU | PA
The Brexit row broke out after Mr Streeting made clear he is committed to rejoining the EU.
The ex-Health Secretary, who campaigned for a second Brexit referendum after 2016, said: “Britain’s future lies with Europe and one day, one day, back in the European Union.”
However, Labour insiders fear Mr Streeting’s EU push only boosted Mr Farage’s campaign in Makerfield.
A senior source told The Times: “I despair. It’s like a gift to Farage. What Wes did reeks of desperation and selfishness.”