Andy Burnham keeps his options open on Brexit

LIVERPOOL, England — Andy Burnham pledged to undertake the most ambitious review of Brexit since Britain left the EU.

But for now at least, he’s keeping all his options open.

Speaking at his party’s annual conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, the U.K. prime minister said the current plans to improve the Brexit settlement struck by the last Conservative government were “not enough” and that leaving the bloc had done “more harm than good.”

But Burnham didn’t pledge an immediate fix.

Instead, the newly-installed British PM said he would lay out at a summit with the EU later this year “what I believe the different options are for Britain’s long-term relationship with our European partners.”

“And there are different options,” he said. “I will see if we can find consensus around one, which will give us clarity about our position and the future of the continent that we live in.”

Burnham did not elaborate in his speech on the options he would present — but different figures within Labour have argued for joining the EU single market, the customs union, or rejoining the bloc wholesale. Those options would need to be in the next manifesto, since they would breach the red lines. Other figures want to maintain the status quo.

The prime minister’s team is yet to rule anything out — or in — and Burnham is expected to set out how an option will be chosen at the summit, leaving plenty of space for interpretation between now and then.

Red lines

The summit, expected to be held in Brussels, was originally scheduled for July, but was postponed when Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister.

While no new date for the meting has yet been set, both sides have said they want to hold it before the end of the year. EU ambassador Jukka Salovaara said on Monday that he expected the summit to happen in November.

The meeting is meant to wrap up existing talks on an agriculture trade deal, youth visas and cooperation on carbon emission — but could also be used a launchpad for more talks.

Stella Creasy, the MP who chairs the Labour Movement for Europe, urged the prime minster to drop manifesto red lines drawn up by Keir Starmer ruling out participation in the single market, customs union, or free movement.

“Everything must be on the table,” she said. “Removing the red lines on Europe is the essential first step to restoring our place on the world stage.”

Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP who chairs the foreign affairs select committee, told the POLITICO Pub at Labour conference following the speech: “I personally think that actually people either want to be in the European Union or they want to be out of the European Union, and any of the half measures people don’t really trust.

“They would like to go full fat or not. And the majority of people want to be in the European Union, and frankly, they’re right.” 

Cautious welcome

Burnham’s address has so far received a cautious welcome from Brussels and from EU capitals.

Sandro Gozi, the lawmaker who chairs the European Parliament’s parliament’s delegation to U.K., told POLITICO that Burnham’s “call for a new course deserves a serious European response.”

“Let’s turn that opening into concrete choices for a closer EU–UK partnership to give citizens and businesses on both sides of the channel a more prosperous, secure future. As Europeans, we must unite and we must adapt our relations for a new world.”

Another EU diplomat told POLITICO: “It was a very passionate speech. What I found very interesting was the lack of reference to the manifesto’s red lines, the willingness to the lay out all options, and to try and find consensus around one.”

But back in Westminster, Labour’s euroskeptic opponents Reform accused Burnham of “betrayal.” 

“Andy Burnham has barely been Prime Minister five minutes and he’s already trying to sneak us back into Brussels via the back door,” Reform UK’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice — whose boss Nigel Farage was one of the chief campaigners for Brexit — said.

“He says Brexit has done more harm than good but what’s done real harm is a Labour government that can’t deliver growth, can’t control migration and now wants to outsource the job to Brussels,” Tice added.

“Reform UK will never let this betrayal go unchallenged.”