Andy Burnham has promised a “serious dialogue” over the UK’s future place in Europe, saying the existing relationship is “not good enough” as he framed next month’s Brussels summit as a possible first step to EU membership. The prime minister said Britain must take a “clear-eyed rational look” at its long-term relationship with the bloc to boost economic growth and control immigration, which needed to go beyond Labour’s existing red lines. The next “reset” summit will take place on 20 November, ending months of uncertainty, with the two sides seeking to sign deals on food and drink, youth mobility and emissions trading, which Burnham hopes could provide a £10bn-a-year boost to the economy.
One EU diplomat said a deal on the three “significant but modest” issues needed to be approved as a test of the UK’s good faith so that both sides could get on with the “real reset” in the longer term relationship. But the UK remains braced for a possible row over protectionist “Made in Europe” trade rules amid industry fears they could lock out UK manufacturers, prompting the prime minister to pledge he would raise concerns with his EU counterparts. Burnham was also forced to clarify that he did not think Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit campaign had affected the final result, after he raised questions about the legitimacy of the outcome in comments at the weekend.
In a statement to MPs, the first since the party conference recess, an otherwise confident-sounding Burnham said it would be a “major dereliction of duty” for his government to turn away from exploring closer relations with the EU. If we are serious about promoting growth, controlling immigration, upholding our values and security, it is a conversation we must have. Worse, it would be a major dereliction of duty to turn away.
We need to take a calm, clear-eyed, rational look at the world as it is today to consider what is best for our country. He was forced on to the back foot over his remarks to a podcast on Sunday that Russia had interfered over Brexit, rejecting suggestions from Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, that he may have been loose with his language. Burnham had said on Sunday it was clear that Russia had interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum after he sought answers when he arrived in No 10.
He did not disclose who gave him the assessment, what evidence it was based on or, crucially, whether any interference had affected the result. Downing Street said the prime minister “absolutely” accepted the Brexit referendum result and believed it to be legitimate, while the foreign minister Stephen Doughty said it was clear Russia had attempted to interfere but had failed. In his statement, Burnham told MPs they had been right to raise the question of the “loss of immigration control” that came with Brexit, as Labour grapples with continuing public concern over the issue, and suggested Brussels recognised this.
The UK is excluded from Eurodac, a database which holds biometric and ID data to identify asylum seekers and irregular migrants, and exited the Dublin regulation, a legal mechanism to return refugees to the European country through which they had first entered or transited. But while the prime minister told MPs a return to free movement was “not on the table” in his discussions with the EU, and said he would honour Keir Starmer’s manifesto red lines, he was unable to rule it out for a post-election future. Sources on both sides believe they will be able to get other issues over the line at the summit next month, suggesting that a food and phytosanitary agreement would have been reached in July if the summit had gone ahead on its original date.
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