New polling shows that voters in Andy Burnham's Makerfield constituency are firmly opposed to handing new powers to the EU. With less than two weeks before the Prime Minister attends a major Brussels summit, his plans to bring the UK back under EU rule have been roundly rejected by his own constituents.
Voters back UK control over key policies
Eight in ten say the UK should make its own decisions on state aid to grow regional economies, and 78% say the UK government alone should make its own decisions about VAT rates. The survey found 75% believe the UK should set its own employment laws and 74% believe only the British government should make decisions about food standards.
These are all policy areas where Labour is expected to hand some control back to the EU, either as part of the forthcoming reset, which is expected to include UK firms obeying EU food regulations, or as part of Mr Burnham's long-term plan to develop a new relationship with the EU, such as re-joining the single market.
Poll avoids Brexit 'tribes'
The poll deliberately did not mention the EU, in order to break voters out of so-called Brexit “tribes”. Instead, it asked voters where they believed decisions should be made. In every case, a clear majority of the voters polled in Makerfield said policy should be decided by UK governments alone.
Mr Burnham returned to Parliament in June after winning a by-election in the North West constituency. He said at the time that every policy of his government would need to pass a “Makerfield test” to ensure it was considered acceptable to the people of Makerfield and similar parts of the country.
Reactions to the polling
The polling was conducted by Britain Unbound, which is calling for the UK to make the most of Brexit freedoms rather than rejoining the Single Market or the EU.
Jonathan Hinder, Labour MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, said: “Voters in Labour's heartlands are clear that they do not support signing up to rules we have no say over and enforced by courts we do not control. They want UK governments to be free to decide these policies for ourselves.”
Conservative peer Lord Redwood, co-chair of Britain Unbound, said: “Makerfield voters reject giving away our hard won right to self-government to the EU and ignoring the results of the 2016 Referendum.
“They were promised the Makerfield test for any policy change. Yet a few months on, the Burnham Government is proposing the opposite of what they voted for.”
“Giving away our powers of self-government, and offering to pay the EU a load of money as well, fails Mr Burnham's Makerfield test. A decisive poll shows more than two-thirds of Makerfield voters oppose giving away any lawmaking and taxraising over us to the EU. The proposed reset is a surrender to the EU that voters do not want.”
Other issues which voters believed should be decided in the UK included “buy British” rules, energy policy, animal welfare and medicine approval for the NHS.
