Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants the UK to rejoin the European Union within his lifetime, while ruling out any immediate change during this Parliament. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, he described the current deal with Brussels as "not good enough" for Britain.
Weaker control since Brexit
Mr Burnham claimed the UK has "weaker control" since Brexit, particularly regarding immigration. 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 insisted a general election would not be called "any time soon" amid speculation he could go to the country early to secure a mandate of his own and put rejoining proposals to voters following a bounce in Labour's poll ratings.
No changes in this Parliament
Mr Burnham 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."
He continued: "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."
Meeting with EU chiefs
Mr Burnham will meet EU chiefs including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on November 20 as he seeks to strike a better deal with the bloc. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner previously said nothing should be off the table during the discussions next month.
She said: "The Prime Minister is clear that you can't take anything off the table when you're having a conversation. But the Prime Minister is not saying we're going back to where we were in 2016. He's saying we've got to be pragmatic to get the best deal for Britain and he wants to have the conversation."
