UK PM Andy Burnham vows to renegotiate post-Brexit trade deal with EU
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to push for closer relations with the European Union, confirming he will attend a bilateral summit in Brussels next month.
Addressing parliament on Monday, Burnham said parts of the trade deal agreed with the EU after the UK voted to leave in 2016 would be renegotiated.
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Burnham said that the British public would be “the boss” at every stage of renegotiating Britain’s relationship with the EU and that he wanted “serious dialogue” about long-term ties.
He told members of parliament that his focus at the summit would be boosting growth in the economy and controlling illegal immigration.
Among the topics of discussion at November’s summit are cutting bureaucracy for British food exports and emissions trading, as well as a “new youth experience scheme” and deeper cooperation on immigration.
The prime minister, who came into office in July, said the agreements could reverse some of the “damage” done to the post-Brexit British economy.
He told MPs that Britain needed to “take a calm, clear-eyed look at the world as it is today”.
“Sticking to the status quo is not good enough,” he said, adding that “public opinion currently supports a pragmatic approach like the one I am suggesting”.
After his address, the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, said Burnham would be unable to secure a better deal as the EU was ” tough negotiators” and warned that he had already “shown his hand”.
In an interview released on Sunday, Burnham said it was “clear” that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum and warned that French and German voters faced the same threat.
His comments marked the first time that a UK Prime Minister acknowledged Russian interference in the referendum, but did not provide evidence to support the claim.