British premier says revising UK’s Brexit deal with EU could ‘bring people together’

British Premier Andy Burnham has said that revising the UK’s relationship with the EU could help bring people together, while insisting that any decision to rejoin the bloc would be for the British public to make. Speaking in an interview on Monday on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, hosted by Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley, Burnham said he would like to see the UK rejoin the EU in his lifetime but stressed that he would not impose his personal views on the public. “I’ve said – I’m going to be honest – in my lifetime I would like to see that happen, but I am not going to move ahead of the public. I am not going to dictate in terms of my own opinions here. You have to make sure that the British public are the bosses here,” he said. Asked whether he saw himself as the prime minister destined to take Britain back into the EU, Burnham replied: “Honestly, I don’t.” He said his priority was to take a pragmatic approach to the country’s challenges, adding: “I see it as my job to be pragmatic about the whole situation. Can I make it work better? Can I add growth to the British economy?” Burnham rejected suggestions that he was reopening the Brexit referendum debate in breach of a promise made during the Makerfield by-election campaign. Instead, he reiterated his argument that the UK should reconsider its post-Brexit arrangements with the EU, saying the current settlement was not working. He also argued that a more practical and open discussion about Brexit could help bridge political and social divisions that have persisted since the 2016 referendum. “And [to] go back to Brexit, by just talking about it in a more practical way, by being honest about it … that can start to bring people together who voted in different ways,” he said. “The divides that we’ve lived through in the last decade really do need to end, and we need to pull people together …” Burnham said addressing the UK’s relationship with Europe was necessary to provide the country with a clear direction. “I’m trying to give the country a direction and there is no way I can do that without coming back to the relationship with Europe and saying, ‘Look, here are some options as to how we got this right.’” He again ruled out seeking to rejoin the EU before the next general election. Rules out early election During the interview, Burnham also dismissed speculation about an early general election, saying there would be no election “anytime soon.” Asked whether he was preparing the public for an early election, he replied: “No, I’ve ruled that out.” Pressed on whether that was definite, Burnham said he had made his position clear before the Labour Party conference. “I just don’t think people want another backward-looking squabble. I think they want me to get on with the job,” he said. Reid returned to the issue towards the end of the interview, prompting Burnham to reiterate that an early election was not on his agenda. “My mind is not on that [an early election]. I don’t know if that is coming over here, but it genuinely is not on that. There is no election coming anytime soon. People may as well just put that out of their mind,” he said.