Andy Burnham remains evasive over rejoining EU without referendum

Andy Burnham has left the door open to rejoining the EU without another referendum as Labour faces calls to put doing so in its next manifesto. The prime minister insisted that any change required public consent but declined to say whether a general election mandate could replace a second referendum. Most commented 1 Zelensky repeats offer to hold elections if Russia agrees to ceasefire Russia-Ukraine war 1,982 comments 2 Tiger kills man who ‘jumped’ into pen at Yorkshire Wildlife Park 751 comments Asked about this on The Rest Is Politics podcast, Burnham said: “I think it’s jumping ahead too far at this stage. One thing I think is true is that public opinion has moved more quickly than political opinion. I think the political class is behind the public on this issue.” Burnham campaigned for Remain while shadow home secretary in 2016 Euan Cherry/Alamy The Labour MP and former junior minister Jess Phillips has explicitly backed a manifesto pledge to rejoin, while the prime minister of Estonia has said Britain would be welcomed back into the bloc. Top stories 1 Starbucks ‘explores takeover’ of Chipotle Mexican Grill US business Phillips told the Cliveden Literary Festival she had interpreted Burnham’s Labour conference speech as moving towards a “real debate about rejoining the EU”. She suggested this could be pursued through a general election or referendum. Asked whether she wanted rejoining in Labour’s next manifesto, she replied: “Yes. I don’t run towards having another referendum, I’ll tell you that for nothing.” Advertisement Burnham set out plans in the speech to find political consensus on the UK’s future relationship with Brussels . He said he would argue for “closer integration” at a UK-EU summit before the end of the year at which discussions will cover agriculture, trade and immigration. He argued that Brexit had damaged economic growth and weakened Britain’s ability to control migration. Jess Phillips, right, with Angela Rayner at the Labour Party conference in September Peter Byrne/PA Kristen Michal, Estonia’s prime minister, told The Observer on Sunday that Britain would be “very welcome back”, although he said the issue was not on the agenda for a European Council meeting this week. Sandro Gozi, a French MEP, told The Mail on Sunday that Britain would have to accept the euro and free movement if it rejoined. Kristen Michal, the Estonian prime minister Ints Kalnins/Reuters Burnham also told The Rest Is Politics that he had been informed Russia interfered in the 2016 referendum after seeking an assessment on entering No 10. “I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was [interference],” he said. Top stories 1 Mortgage rates dip after weeks of painful rises Mortgages He said he believed it was important to put this “clearly on the record” to help voters in Germany and France, where populist right-wing parties have risen in the polls, to understand “some of this politics is instigated via our enemies”. Politics newsletter Get our daily insider’s guide to Westminster, plus a rundown of PMQs every Wednesday. Sign up with one click You’ve successfully signed up to the Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters Parliament’s intelligence and security committee found in 2020 that the government failed fully to assess the impact Russian state-run media and “troll” accounts could have had on the EU referendum. Advertisement Burnham said he spoke to Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, about the threat from the radical right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party when they met in Berlin this week. Remainers protest in 2016 outside parliament Wiktor Szymanowicz/Alamy Alex Burghart, the Conservative Party deputy leader, told the Cliveden panel his party would reverse any reset enacted by Burnham’s government and said: “What I don’t want to do, which is what the current government is doing, is to say that we won’t be part of that club but we will take its rules.” Matt Goodwin, who stood for Reform UK in the Gorton & Denton by-election, accused Labour of disregarding the referendum result. He said: “We now have a Labour government that is ignoring the democratic will across the red wall, across Wales, across Essex and coastal England.”