Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he believes a "win-win" deal could be struck with the EU that could be "more like the Brexit that people thought they were voting for in 2016".
Speaking at the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Ireland, Mr Burnham said his decision to reopen discussions on the UK's future relationship with the bloc has helped pave the way for a series of agreements ahead of next week's summit.
Agreements and GDP boost
Mr Burnham is set to meet EU leaders in Brussels next week and sign agreements that he claims could boost GDP by 0.4%, covering areas including food and farming, emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme. The UK will subsequently "explore options" for a revised long-term relationship with the bloc, he confirmed.
On the negotiations, Mr Burnham said: "The requests are coming from the European side. We are putting our requests on the table too."
Reaction to Lord Cameron
He dismissed an intervention from Lord David Cameron, who stepped down from Downing Street following the UK's vote to leave the EU, having led the Remain campaign. Lord Cameron stated earlier this week that initiating any conversation about rejoining the bloc would be "very long and painful", and argued that Britain's economic difficulties over the past decade were not a consequence of Brexit.
Mr Burnham said: "I think he is wrong to say that the low growth that we've had over the last decade is, quote, 'nothing to do with Brexit.'" He added: "It feels like his intervention is more about unity in the Conservative Party than it is about fighting for the British, the British interests."
Next steps
Mr Burnham stopped short of ruling out offering discounted tuition fees to young Europeans as part of the negotiations, saying: "There's a lot of issues on the table as part of a deal and I'm certainly one that supports greater youth exchange between the UK and Europe."
He pledged to "fight now, over the days to come, to make sure we get this deal over the line", while maintaining that voters would ultimately be "the boss" of any changes regarding rejoining the EU or reinstating freedom of movement rules. He concluded: "No one's talking about rejoin. This is a deal that is about the next seven days."
