Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there is "no election coming anytime soon," but signalled he could fight the next general election on a promise to take the UK back into the EU. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, he ruled out rejoining the bloc within this Parliament while insisting he wanted to secure a better post-Brexit deal.
No Early Vote, But Open Door on Rejoining
Amid speculation he could call an early general election seeking his own mandate to rejoin following a bounce in the polls, Mr Burnham insisted there would not be a vote "any time soon" but left the door open to including the promise in the next manifesto.
Asked when the public could expect to see a manifesto proposing a return to the EU, he said: "No time soon, if at all, it's not. It's not about that. My mind isn't on that. I don't know if that is coming over here, but it genuinely is not on that. There is no election coming anytime soon."
Brexit Deal "Not Good Enough"
Mr Burnham argued the existing agreement is "harder" than what was proposed at the 2016 referendum, saying he would not "move ahead of the public" but wanted to secure a better deal with Brussels.
Asked about Brexit on Good Morning Britain, he said: "I don't think things have worked out as people said they would at the time, particularly when it comes to immigration. I think we've got weaker control now. The reason the small boats crisis has arisen is because we can't return people, and people know we can't do that in the same way that we used to be able to do."
He added: "I'm not proposing any changes in this Parliament. I'm not going to move away from the red lines that were in the Labour manifesto. I am respecting what I said to the voters in Makerfield, but I'm not going to say this morning, sitting here, that the deal we've got at the moment is good enough for Britain. I don't think it is good enough for Britain. I think we can make it better and I'm going to lead a discussion about how do we make it better in a way that people can support."
Commitment to Red Lines and Future Options
Mr Burnham previously committed to Labour's red lines that rule out rejoining the customs union, single market or free movement, after fighting the by-election in Leave-voting Makerfield with a promise not to "re-run" Brexit arguments. However, his call over the weekend for an "honest discussion" about returning to freedom of movement fuelled questions about his vision for a deepening relationship with Brussels.
He told the Sunday Times he wanted to have a "very factual, quite evidence-based debate about this" as he acknowledged freedom of movement "had very significant challenges associated with it." He said he could not imagine recommending joining the Schengen borderless area or ditching the pound to adopt the euro.
Mr Burnham will meet EU chiefs including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for a key summit in Brussels on November 20 as he seeks to strike a better deal with the bloc, considering various longer-term options potentially including a return to full EU membership or joining the single market.
