Andy Burnham says he wants to rejoin EU 'in my lifetime' but 'British public are the bosses'
Andy Burnham said in an ITV Good Morning Britain interview at the start of budget week that he would like to see the UK rejoin the EU in his lifetime, but that he would not move ahead of the British public on whether to andy burnham rejoin eu questions should be settled by voters.
Andy Burnham says he wants to rejoin EU 'in my lifetime' but 'British public are the bosses'
Andy Burnham opened budget week with an interview on ITV's Good Morning Britain with Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley, where the question of whether the UK should rejoin the EU put him at the centre of the Labour brexit position debate.
Asked by Reid if he wanted Britain back in the EU, Burnham said: "in my lifetime I would like to see that happen, but I am not going to move ahead of the public".
Burnham rules out leading rejoin push
Burnham rejected the idea that he sees himself as destined to be the prime minister who takes Britain back into the EU. His job, he said, was to be pragmatic about the situation and to see whether he could make it work better and add growth to the economy.
Pressed on who should decide, he said: "You have to make sure that the British public are the bosses here."
What he said at Labour conference
At Labour conference he announced that rejoining the EU could end up as the best option to emerge from his proposed renegotiation of the Brexit settlement, which would involve accepting free movement.
In the ITV interview he repeated his argument from the conference stage that the effort of revising the relationship with the EU is worth it because the current post-Brexit settlement is not working.
He also claimed a fresh debate on Brexit could unite rather than divide, saying it could be done by talking about it in a more practical way and being honest about it, which could start to bring people together. He argued the divides the country has lived through in the last decade need to end and that he is trying to give the country a direction, which requires returning to the relationship with Europe.
Denials and criticisms
It was put to Burnham that he had broken a promise made during the Makerfield byelection campaign not to reopen the Brexit referendum campaign. He denied it.
Neil Kinnock said recently he thought Burnham was determined to take Britain back in the EU. The day before the interview, opposition parties - and privately some Labour MPs - criticised the PM for saying in a Sunday Times interview that he would be willing to consider going into the next election proposing accepting EU free movement rules.
Timing: no early election
Not for the first time, Burnham categorically ruled out trying to rejoin the EU before the election, and dismissed any suggestion of an early election.
"There is no election coming anytime soon. People may as well just put that out of their mind," he said.
