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The UK could “go all the way” and rejoin the European Union, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said, as his government prepares to weigh a range of options for redefining the country’s relationship with the bloc.
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Speaking to the BBC a day after he told a Labour Party conference that he would present “options” for the future EU-UK relationship, Burnham acknowledged that reversing Brexit would be one of the proposals under consideration.
“We could stay as we are. We could look at what George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said about the (EU) single market, or we could go all the way,” Burnham said.
“There are clearly options that need to be considered. We have to look at what is doable and what would be the problem is and cons of each.”
The Prime Minister also acknowledged his past comments saying that he would like to see the UK rejoin the EU during his lifetime.
An EU-UK summit scheduled for July was abruptly called off in June when former Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation, torpedoing plans for both sides to close a range of deals, including on boosting agri-food trade and youth exchanges.
Burnham has been perceived as less focused on international issues, including the reset in the relationship with the EU, than his predecessor.
Yet his comments suggest the Labour government is now looking to establish a more long-term strategy for resetting ties with Brussels.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently opened the door to Canada becoming the EU’s first so-called “associate member” — an unprecedented status with no existing legal basis.
Ottawa’s push for closer ties with Brussels has been driven in part by a desire to diversify its trade relationships in the face of Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies. The EU’s openness to the idea has, in turn, raised questions about where the UK might fit within the bloc’s wider orbit.
George Osborne, the former Conservative Chancellor under David Cameron during the Brexit referendum campaign, has recently called for the UK to rejoin the customs union to remove barriers to EU trade without accepting freedom of movement.
The centrist Liberal Democrats meanwhile have gone further and advocated for rejoining the single market as part of a sweeping “growth and defence partnership”.
Ten years on from the 2016 Brexit referendum, opinion polling in the UK suggests the tide has turned. A recent YouGov survey suggested 56% of British voters would support rejoining the EU.
