Downing Street has said Andy Burnham is “not leaning either way” on the UK’s future relationship with the EU, after the Prime Minister left the door open to a potential referendum on freedom of movement.
Mr Burnham’s call at the weekend for an “honest discussion” about a return to freedom of movement raised questions about the parameters of his vision for a deepening relationship with Brussels.
No 10 denied it was backtracking after Mr Burnham earlier suggested he could fight the next general election on a promise to take the UK back into the bloc.
Prime Minister’s stance on EU proposals
A Downing Street spokeswoman said the Prime Minister is not proposing a return to freedom of movement or any specific option. She said he is calling for a discussion about the kind of long-term relationship with Europe that is best for Britain, covering areas that such an agreement could include.
“He is crucially not leaning either way, and that will be for the British public to decide,” she said, adding that his focus for now is on next month’s summit and the practical arrangements hoped to be made there, which she said would add billions to the economy.
The spokeswoman also said the Prime Minister is not pre-empting any of that process, and that the public is “not at that stage yet” when asked whether proposals would be put to a referendum or an updated Labour manifesto.
Burnham’s comments on EU membership
In a series of interviews on Monday morning, Mr Burnham ruled out rejoining the EU within this Parliament, while signalling he could fight the next general election on a promise to take the UK back into the bloc. He said “no” when asked whether he would allow the UK to reinstate EU freedom of movement without a referendum.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he said: “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.”
“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,” he added.
Future summit and options
Asked whether there could be a return to freedom of movement without a referendum, Mr Burnham said: “No, I mean I wasn’t saying that yesterday. I was asked about how things have changed in the 10 years since Brexit, and the truth of the matter is we’ve lost immigration control in the way that we once had.”
Mr Burnham will meet EU chiefs, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, for a summit in Brussels on November 20 as he seeks a better deal with the bloc. He wants to consider various longer-term options for a new relationship, potentially including a return to full EU membership or joining the single market, which would require free movement.
He told the Sunday Times he wanted a “very factual, quite evidence-based debate about this”, acknowledging 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.
