Burnham: “I am not rushing the process of rejoining the EU, but I would like to see it completed within my lifetime”

Brussels – Andy Burnham, the UK’s Prime Minister, would like to see the country back in the European Union, but does not intend to rush things. He made this statement this morning (26 October) in an interview with Good Morning Britain on ITV, in which he nevertheless lamented the limitations of the current agreement with Brussels. “I say this in all honesty: in my lifetime I would like to see that happen (re-entry into the EU, ed.), but I do not intend to move any faster than public opinion. I do not want to impose my views: we must ensure that the British people are the bosses.”

Ten years on from the referendum, the Prime Minister has delivered a harsh assessment. “Looking back at Brexit, I don’t think it went the way people said it would at the time. We’ve had a harder Brexit than the one proposed during the referendum campaign,” he said. In his view, it has “weakened our economy” and also “our control over immigration”, which “might come as a surprise, because that was the big issue,” but the phenomenon of small boats “has grown since then” and today, he observes, “we have a different form of immigration.”

On this point, he is clear: “I will not say, at this stage, that the deal we have is good enough for Britain. I do not believe it is.” At the same time, Burnham makes it clear that he does not wish to upset the balance within his party: he has no intention of straying “from the red lines of the Labour manifesto” and states: “I am not proposing that we rejoin the EU during this parliamentary term. We are very, very far from that point. What I am saying is that we need to take some practical steps to make the deal work better”.

Discussions with Brussels are set to get into full swing shortly: the Prime Minister will attend the EU–UK summit on 20 November, and before then will present a range of options for future relations with Brussels.