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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham vowed to take “further steps” to deepen ties with the European Union during a meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
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The pair met in Manchester on Friday, with Martin becoming the first international leader to visit Burnham’s No10 North, a new regional office established as part of the PM’s devolution drive.
During the talks, Burnham “underlined the UK’s desire to work closely with Ireland during its presidency of the European Union as the UK seeks a closer relationship with Europe,” a spokeswoman for Downing Street said.
The two leaders, who also reaffirmed their commitment to upholding the Good Friday Agreement, had been expected to discuss further strengthening the UK and Ireland’s relationship, focusing on several “shared objectives” including working with the EU, security, and ramping up trade.
“The relationship between the UK and Ireland matters so much on every single level,” Burnham said from No10 North on Friday.
He told reporters that the government was also “looking forward” to a long-awaited UK-EU summit later this year and that it was “wanting to take further steps to deepen the relationship with Europe.”
A summit had been scheduled to take place in July but was postponed following former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation. The summit is expected to centre on key aspects of Starmer’s “Brexit reset,” including a potential youth mobility scheme.
For his part, Martin said: “We look forward to discussing with you even stronger and closer relationships between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which will be of benefit to the European Union and indeed to Ireland, quite frankly.”
Burnham has previously called for the UK to rejoin the bloc, but he toned down those comments as he was campaigning for the Makerfield by-election in May.
“My view is that Brexit has been damaging,” he said. “But I also believe the last thing we should do right now is rerun those arguments.
His comments came as the UK’s divisive 2016 vote to leave the EU came back under the spotlight in spring as Labour figures jostled for position amid party turmoil following disastrous local election results.
Starmer had pledged to “put Britain at the heart of Europe” as his government slowly and carefully began to reforge closer ties with Brussels, but some senior Labour figures sought to go a step further as a leadership contest looked increasingly likely.
Speaking at the time, Wes Streeting, now the UK’s Defence Secretary, labelled the UK’s decision to leave the bloc a “catastrophic mistake.”
“It’s left us less wealthy, less powerful and less in control than at any point before the industrial revolution,” he told an audience at the Labour Party’s Progress conference in May.
“We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe, and one day, one day, back in the European Union,” he added.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, called Labour’s return to the issue “a sign of a Labour party that does not have a plan for the country.”
