One of Andy Burnham’s cabinet ministers has said she wants to avoid “circular arguments” about whether the UK should rejoin the EU, underlining divisions at the top of government over revisiting Brexit. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, appeared to suggest she was not in favour of rejoining the trade bloc, but she said the prime minister should still pursue closer ties to fulfil the promises made at the time of the referendum. She is one of a handful of cabinet ministers who are concerned about Burnham’s plan for an “honest conversation” with the public about Brexit and who are privately warning it could reopen a row that would only benefit Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
I do think, though, that over the last decade we have let the British people down very badly,” she told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. Nandy, whose Wigan seat voted overwhelmingly for leave in 2016, and who is one of the most cautious in the cabinet about reversing Brexit, was asked if she wanted to go back in. However, she did concede that Burnham was trying to address the failings of the Brexit deal, telling Sky News it was important to “be honest” and highlight that “the deal that we got is not what we were promised”.
The culture secretary stressed there were “trade-offs and choices” to be made which involved a conversation with people across the country, indicating that Brexit would be a key theme of the next election campaign. Burnham will attend the European Political Community summit in Dublin on Thursday. Downing Street sources said he would use it to get Labour’s reset deal over the line and to meet many European leaders for the first time.
In private, EU counterparts will be expecting Burnham to set out his ambitions for further integration after he announced his intention to move beyond Labour’s “red lines” on the bloc after the next election. At a Brexit reset meeting on 20 November in Brussels, agreements on agriculture and food, emissions trading and youth experience visas are expected to be confirmed. Burnham said at the weekend there was more to come.
Officials will also discuss the agenda for the next round of the reset, which could include another attempt for the UK to join the EU’s €150bn (£125bn) Safe defence fund, collaboration on law enforcement and borders, and visas for touring artists. Soon after the Brussels summit, Burnham is expected to give a speech setting out options for a closer relationship with the EU, arguing it would be in the UK’s long-term interest. No 10 sources said he wanted to “frame the conversation, not go straight to the endgame” before testing public opinion.
Senior government figures say Burnham wants a mandate to start negotiations with the EU in Labour’s next election manifesto, but that any subsequent referendum would be solely confirmatory. That was David Cameron’s mistake,” one said. However, Burnham has faced reservations from others within his cabinet.
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