Freedom of movement confusion shows Andy Burnham's Government lacks clarity

Andy Burnham said this week he would not return the UK to European freedom of movement rules without a referendum. It came after an interview in which the Prime Minister opened the door to freedom of movement, saying that an “honest discussion” was needed. He said he would "never move ahead of the British public when it comes to Brexit". But just hours later, Downing Street would not say whether the British public would be given a referendum on rejoining EU freedom of movement.

A No10 spokeswoman said that “the Prime Minister isn’t proposing a return to freedom of movement, or any option.” She added that he “is crucially not leaning either way, and that will be for the British public to decide.” But she would not repeat the referendum guarantee. On several occasions during his so far short stint in office, the Prime Minister’s comments have had to be clarified. He said at one of his early PMQs that Scotland was “exactly the same situation” as Northern Ireland when it came to an independence referendum.

The PM later said that Indyref2 remains “off limits”. Mr Burnham said national security “can’t come at the expense of social security”. His team later stressed that "national security is the most important duty of any government" and that the PM had been "consistent about getting the welfare bill down". He had to ask for Parliament’s official record to be corrected after saying an "individual" was "responsible for the murder" of Ann Widdecombe, and rolled back after he said he would be “really concerned” if Man City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold the club after it was found to have broken Premier League rules.

Some might say that Mr Burnham’s style of answering questions is a breath of fresh air. He seems to be being sincere, genuinely trying to address the topic at hand At least he is not avoidant like Sir Keir Starmer, and actually answers the questions. But so far - despite only being a few months in - he has managed to put his foot in it a few times. With Brexit being such a thorny issue, he has to be more careful. Confusion over its stance on the EU has harmed Labour in the past, and it will want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Perhaps Mr Burnham is just dipping his toe in the water to see how these interventions about the EU impact the public’s opinion on him. So far, it does not seem to have harmed him in the polls. In fact, it appears to have shored up his core vote. With Reform UK in a bit of a rut, it seems like pro-EU noises which the PM is making are not harming him or his party too much. But not being clear - and his spokespeople constantly having to roll back on things he has said - could be costly.

This is particularly the case in the red wall when it comes to EU membership. Few people vote for a party when they don’t know what they stand for. Even less will support a Prime Minister who constantly says one thing one day, and then has to correct the record the next.