Since entering No10, Mr Burnham’s own campaign to bring the UK closer to the EU, admitting he would like to see Britain rejoin the bloc “within his lifetime” – a claim which has even drawn criticism from his allies.
Lord Gove, as part of the fightback, further warned rejoining “would mean handing back control of our laws, borders, money and trade” – as well as coughing up a “good deal more” in membership fees.
He continued: “Families worried about their mortgages, energy bills and the weekly shop want a government that spends its time and their money on easing the cost of living.
“Sending £750million a week to Brussels would do nothing to help with any of this.
“Reopening this question would just commit the country to another decade of fractious negotiations and a return to the divisions we have spent years putting behind us, at the very moment people are desperate for Westminster to get on with delivering on their priorities.”