Andy Burnham will tell the House of Commons today that it would be a "dereliction of duty" for Britain to turn down a closer relationship with the European Union, if one can be negotiated with Brussels, in the most significant statement on Brexit since he became Prime Minister.
Addressing MPs on Monday afternoon, in the first sitting of the Commons since 15 September, Mr Burnham is expected to say it is time to "face up to the reality that Brexit has done more harm than good" and that "the status quo is not good enough for Britain".
A new conversation with Brussels
The Prime Minister will argue that a new deal with the EU could help tackle illegal immigration and boost economic growth, setting out his ambitions before a UK-EU summit that has been rescheduled for next month. The summit had been due to take place in the summer but was postponed after Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation.
Mr Burnham hopes to secure tweaks to the current arrangements between London and Brussels, and to begin a wider conversation about the long-term relationship between the United Kingdom and its nearest neighbours. He first pledged to explore closer ties at the Labour Party conference last month, where he argued that immigration control had been "weakened by Brexit" because the UK "lost collaboration with our European partners, and we are still having to work hard to bring it back".
The Statement at a Glance
- Andy Burnham addresses the Commons on Monday afternoon, the first sitting since 15 September.
- He will call the rejection of closer EU ties a "major dereliction of duty" and say Brexit has done "more harm than good".
- A UK-EU summit postponed after Sir Keir Starmer's resignation has been rescheduled for next month.
- The Prime Minister wants tweaks to the current arrangements plus a wider conversation about the long-term relationship.
- Kemi Badenoch has called reopening the Brexit debate "a terrible idea".
Dereliction of duty
"But it is time for a different conversation about what our long-term relationship should be," the Prime Minister is expected to say. "Sticking with the status quo and not working relentlessly to secure a good deal that boosts growth would be a major dereliction of duty."
The statement completes a striking fortnight of positioning. Last month Mr Burnham went further than any Labour leader since the referendum, suggesting Britain should reconsider its options for the future, including rejoining the bloc, on the grounds that leaving had failed the promise of "taking back control" and had made the country weaker economically and on immigration. At the weekend he became the first serving Prime Minister to say publicly that Russia interfered in the 2016 vote, telling The Rest Is Politics podcast he had received a "clear answer" that Moscow meddled.
The opposition responds
Kemi Badenoch used her own party conference speech last week to pre-empt the Prime Minister's move, calling it "a terrible idea" to "reopen the Brexit debate". The Conservative leader asked whether the country really wanted to go through that argument again, with so much time lost and businesses left not knowing whether the rules would change. Reform UK, whose shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick has spent the week attacking Mrs Badenoch's own positioning, is expected to oppose any rapprochement with Brussels just as fiercely.
The Commons returns to a packed autumn agenda, with the Chancellor's first Budget due on 28 October and a spending review to follow next year. Downing Street hopes today's statement will frame the Brexit question on the government's terms: not as a re-run of 2016, but as a practical conversation about growth, borders and Britain's place in the world.