UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has backed an “honest discussion” on whether closer UK-EU relations could eventually include free movement, single market membership, or even European Union membership, while stressing that any significant policy change would require a mandate at a future general election.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Burnham said: “I think you have to have a very factual, quite evidence-based debate about this,” adding that he believed the balance and nature of migration had changed since the Brexit referendum.
“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.”
But he stressed: “I can’t see myself ever recommending anything that would involve joining the euro or Schengen.”
Attention will now turn to the UK-EU summit in Brussels on 20 November, where Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to discuss options for resetting relations with the bloc. While the government has not committed to any policy changes, the summit could provide a clearer indication of its priorities on trade, security, mobility and wider cooperation as both sides explore the next phase of the post-Brexit relationship.
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