'Mahmood is furious': Cabinet anger as Burnham opens door to Brexit free movement

Andy Burnham has sparked Cabinet anger after he opened the door to a debate on a return to freedom of movement with the European Union, with the Home Secretary said to be “furious” at not being told in advance of his comments. Shabana Mahmood and the rest of the Cabinet were not told in advance about the Prime Minister’s intervention and only learned of it after his comments were published in the Sunday Times at the weekend. One Labour insider said Mahmood was “furious”, while a Government source suggested the remarks had “undermined” her immigration strategy.

In an interview with The Sunday Times , Burnham said he wanted an “honest discussion” with the British public about a possible return to freedom of movement as part of a new relationship with the EU. “I think you have to have a very factual, quite evidence-based debate about this,” he said. ‘He is still acting like a mayor’ Burnham argued that migration had changed since Brexit, with more people now settling permanently in Britain. Before Brexit, he suggested, EU migrants were “generally younger people” who stayed for a few years before returning home.

Other Cabinet ministers are also understood to be angry at not being consulted. One Labour insider compared the row to Burnham’s recent comments defending Manchester City’s owners after the club was found guilty of financial rule breaches, saying: “He doesn’t seem to realise the weight his comments have as Prime Minister. He still seems to be acting like he is a mayor.” As exclusively revealed by The i Paper last week , a narrow majority of Cabinet ministers are understood to favour a return to the bloc.

However, they remain divided over the need for a referendum, the pace of any move towards membership and the risk of reigniting the bitter divisions of the Brexit years. Around 15 ministers are understood to support rejoining, compared with 13 who are either undecided or opposed, according to people familiar with their views. Mahmood is already facing pressure to water down her tough immigration reforms, with housing secretary Angela Rayner and environment secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh raising concerns over plans to extend the wait for permanent residency from five to 10 years.

Burnham’s intervention has added to tensions over how Labour can reconcile tougher immigration controls with a closer relationship with Europe. Since the interview was published, Downing Street has sought to distance the Government from the suggestion of a return to freedom of movement. The Prime Minister’s official deputy spokesperson said on Monday: “The Prime Minister isn’t proposing a return to freedom of movement or any option. He is saying that it’s time for us to discuss what kind of long-term relationship with Europe is best for Britain.”

The spokesperson said Burnham was “crucially not leaning either way” on what Britain’s long-term relationship with the EU should be, adding that the public would have the final say. ‘I will never move ahead of the British public’ – Burnham On Monday morning, Burnham was asked whether he would allow Britain to return to freedom of movement without a referendum. “No, and I wasn’t saying that – [I will] never move ahead of the British public when it comes to Brexit,” he replied in an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain .

But hours later, Downing Street declined to repeat that assurance and would not confirm that rejoining the EU or the single market would necessarily require a referendum. The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said Burnham was not proposing a “divisive referendum” or any specific option, but wanted an “honest account” of the choices available to Britain. In his Good Morning Britain interview, Burnham also said he would like to see the UK rejoin the EU in his lifetime, but stressed that this would not happen in this Parliament, and it was not something he would “dictate”.

At the weekend, he told The Sunday Times that while freedom of movement had presented “very significant challenges”, it “perhaps wasn’t as difficult” as the migration patterns that followed Brexit in 2020. “Revolving door migration where people would come and then go back is different,” he said. “The balance of migration has changed, hasn’t it, since then? I think we’ve just got to have an honest discussion about those things.” Wider Cabinet tensions over Brexit Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Monday, Burnham insisted he had not advocated a return to freedom of movement, arguing instead that Britain needed to be honest about how Brexit had changed migration.

Burnham’s intervention comes against a backdrop of existing divisions within his Cabinet over whether Britain should ultimately rejoin the EU. Mahmood told the Commons, on Monday, that Burnham’s call for an honest discussion is “not the same as settled policy”. She said: “The Prime Minister has also observed that there were very significant issues with freedom of movement when we were within the EU. “An honest debate means actually being honest about all of the aspects of that debate and not cherry-picking.”

The Home Office and No 10 were approached for comment.