Andy Burnham has pledged a “serious dialogue” on the UK’s long-term relationship with the European Union, describing the present arrangement as “not good enough” and presenting next month’s Brussels summit as a possible first move towards membership.
The prime minister told MPs that Britain needed a “calm, clear-eyed, rational look” at its long-term ties with the bloc in order to drive economic growth and manage immigration, saying those aims went further than Labour’s existing red lines.
The “reset” summit is scheduled for 20 November, bringing an end to months of uncertainty. Both sides are pursuing agreements covering food and drink, youth mobility and emissions trading, which Burnham expects could produce a £10bn-a-year boost for the economy.
One EU diplomat said the three “significant but modest” issues must be signed off as a test of the UK’s good faith, allowing both sides to move on to what the diplomat called the “real reset” in the longer-term relationship.
Downing Street remains prepared for a possible clash over protectionist “Made in Europe” trade rules, with industry warning that UK manufacturers could be locked out. The prime minister said he would raise the matter with his EU counterparts.
Burnham was also pressed to clarify that he did not believe Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit campaign had influenced the result, after he questioned the legitimacy of the outcome in comments made at the weekend.
Dereliction of duty
In a statement to MPs — his first since the party conference recess — a confident-sounding Burnham said it would be a “major dereliction of duty” for his government to refuse to explore closer relations with the EU.
“We should not turn our backs on this opportunity and I hope all sides of this house will get behind the government’s efforts to land a positive outcome,” he said.
“I believe our chances of doing so will be enhanced by being open to a discussion about our relationship with the EU in the longer term. If we are serious about promoting growth, controlling immigration, upholding our values and security, it is a conversation we must have.
“Sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain. Worse, it would be a major dereliction of duty to turn away. We need to take a calm, clear-eyed, rational look at the world as it is today to consider what is best for our country.
“Our immediate priority is securing a successful outcome at the summit, and I believe we should then set up a serious dialogue about the different options for our relationship in the long term.”
Burnham denied reopening the Brexit debate, insisting he respected the referendum result, but said he wanted a “pragmatic approach” that would boost growth and improve cooperation on migration.
Russia remarks
He was pushed on to the back foot over remarks made to a podcast on Sunday that Russia had interfered over Brexit, rejecting a suggestion from Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, that he had been loose with his language.
“It is a matter of record that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 general election, and we think it is inconceivable that this was the first time,” he said.
On Sunday Burnham said it was clear Russia had interfered in the 2016 referendum, after seeking answers when he arrived in No 10. He did not say who had given him that assessment, what evidence underpinned it, or whether any interference had changed the result.
Downing Street said the prime minister “absolutely” accepted the referendum result and considered it legitimate. The foreign minister, Stephen Doughty, said Russia had clearly attempted to interfere but had failed.
Immigration control
Burnham told MPs they had been right to raise the “loss of immigration control” that followed Brexit, as Labour contends with sustained public concern over the issue, and suggested Brussels recognised the point.
The UK sits outside Eurodac, the database holding biometric and ID data used to identify asylum seekers and irregular migrants, and has left the Dublin regulation, the mechanism for returning refugees to the European country through which they first entered or transited.
The prime minister told MPs that a return to free movement was “not on the table” in his discussions with the EU and that he would honour Keir Starmer’s manifesto red lines, but he could not rule it out for a future after the next election.
Sources on both sides believe they can get other issues over the line at the summit, suggesting a food and phytosanitary agreement would have been reached in July had the summit gone ahead on its original date.
Outstanding matters include a transition period for grains grown in the UK using recently approved fungicides that are not yet licensed in the EU, which would let farmers who harvested this year sell stockpiles next year despite the differing regulations.
The most difficult question remains the youth mobility programme, under which EU and British citizens under 30 could live, work or study in each other’s countries for up to three years. The two sides disagree over the overall numbers and the tuition fees students would pay at British universities.
Made in Europe
The biggest immediate risk to the UK from not aligning more closely with the EU is exclusion from the new Made in Europe initiative, aimed principally at imports from China in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, nuclear and electric cars, which will block British-made components from EU supply chains.
EU sources have insisted no agreement on the issue can be reached with the UK at the summit, because the bloc has yet to settle its own position on the proposals. EU lawmakers hope to agree a position on a key proposal, the Industrial Accelerator Act, in December.
Brussels is at least open to discussing the matter, and it may form part of the summit statement — a joint text agreed by both sides. The UK has backing from the Netherlands, Poland and Italy for inclusion in the scheme, but France in particular has proved a stumbling block.
Burnham acknowledged that Made in Europe carried “risks” for British manufacturing, in what appeared to be an effort to address concerns inside government that Downing Street has not been prioritising the issue.
“It is important that we get to an arrangement here that works for both the UK and the EU,” he said. “After all, we’re both trying to deal with the same issue, which is Chinese exports and the damaging effect that is having on our industry.”
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