French President Emmanuel Macron has weighed in on Andy Burnham voicing openness to Britain rejoining the EU, as opposition parties hit back at the Prime Minister. In his first Labour Party conference speech as leader, Mr Burnham said Brexit had done "more harm than good" and promised to set out the options to the country around the time of a UK-EU summit, which he said would be in November.
Burnham's stance on Europe
Following his address, Mr Burnham told ITV News: "I can't avoid the Europe question if I'm to put out a credible 10-year plan for Britain." Asked whether that could mean sticking to the status quo, he said: "I don't know what Europe will say about the different options."
He added: "We've got to look at where we are, where they are and see what is a realistic and viable approach in all of the areas that we mentioned and then open up a conversation about it." The Labour leader said his "instincts" were that "it is better to be closer" to the bloc "with all of the threats that we see around the world".
Mr Burnham told the BBC he was not "leaping towards" any one option such as a referendum, saying: "I think we'd have to see where the options fell out, what people feel about them, and then, depending on what people seem to be pointing towards, what we then do." But pressed on whether he could promise a fresh referendum about rejoining after the next election, he said: "Yeah, things are possible."
Macron and Sanchez react
Following Burnham's keynote speech, Macron voiced his support for Britain becoming part of the EU again during a press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday, saying, in English, "Welcome back". He then added in French: "If the British want to come back and if the prime minister is moving in that direction, I think that is very good news, both for his country and for the Europeans."
Mr Sanchez echoed the sentiment, saying: "We would open our arms [to the UK]."
Opposition leaders hit back
But last night Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch hit back, telling the Daily Mail: "Rejoining the EU won't lower energy bills, it won't bring back the businesspeople who've left, cut the welfare bill or fund our defence properly... Instead of trying to re-fight battles of the past, what we should be talking about is what we need to do to solve the genuine challenges our country is facing."
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said: "He says Brexit has done more harm than good but what's done real harm is a Labour government that can't deliver growth, can't control migration and now wants to outsource the job to Brussels." Mr Tice said his party will "never let this betrayal go unchallenged".
Reform leader Nigel Farage's criticism of the speech has so far centred on Burnham pledging to scrap the State Pension triple lock to fund his social care plan, but a senior reform official told Politico the Brexit architect will make a "major speech" about Burnham opening the door to a possible rejoining of the EU today (Thursday, October 1). Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who supports a closer relationship with Europe, called for action rather than words from Burnham. In a post on X, he said: "Liberal Democrats have put forward concrete plans to boost our economy, strengthen our defences and cut people's taxes by joining the single market and a customs union. Talk is cheap. Burnham must stop with all the 'maybes' and get negotiating that better deal for Britain today."
