Prime Minister Andy Burnham's calls for an "honest discussion" about forging a closer relationship with the European Union have been dismissed as "truly pathetic" by Express columnist Harvey Jones. In a scathing opinion piece, Jones argues there is "nothing honest" about the Labour leader's approach, accusing him of trying to reverse the Brexit referendum "by stealth."
Jones claims Burnham is "gaslighting" the public by floating ideas from restoring freedom of movement to rejoining the EU outright, all while playing "party politics to unite the anti-Brexit left." The columnist points out that Labour won the general election promising not to bring back free movement during this Parliament, and that Burnham's own victory came in Leave-voting Makerfield, where he told voters he wouldn't reopen the Brexit debate.
Burnham's Broken Promise
Jones quotes Burnham's exact words from the election campaign: "The last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments." Yet, the columnist notes, Burnham "seems to restart the debate almost every single day."
The opinion piece also takes aim at Labour MP Stella Creasy, chair of the Labour Movement for Europe, who recently claimed that leaving the EU has cost the UK between 6% and 8% of GDP. Jones dismisses this as "a familiar Remainer claim" based on research by the pro-EU Centre for Economic Policy Research, arguing it "relies on questionable assumptions and reaches an extraordinary conclusion."
Economic Comparisons Questioned
Jones counters with figures showing the UK economy has grown 13.2% since Brexit, which he says is better than France's 12.8%, Italy's 10.7%, and Germany's 7.2%. He argues that if Creasy's figures were correct, the UK might have grown by as much as 21.2% — a rate he calls implausible.
The columnist also criticises Burnham for ignoring the potential costs of rejoining, including losing the £5 billion rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher, potentially having to join Schengen, accept freedom of movement, and eventually adopt the euro. Jones suggests EU negotiators would "treat us as supplicants."
'Beyond Madness' in Remembrance Argument
Jones reserves his harshest criticism for Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's statement marking Remembrance Sunday, in which she said her department wanted to "repair" damage to "the strong links with Europe that veterans' service helped to secure and endure after the Second World War." The columnist calls this "peak madness," sarcastically suggesting that Spitfire pilots, Desert Rats, and D-Day troops fought "because they wanted us to rejoin the EU's Erasmus+ programme."
Jones concludes that Labour is "coming up with all sorts of ridiculous arguments to justify reversing Brexit" and that "we simply can't believe a word they say."
