Labour split over Andy Burnham's EU free movement call
Senior cabinet ministers have backed Andy Burnham's suggestion that the UK reconsider EU free movement, while Labour MPs in Brexit-voting 'red wall' seats warn the debate could put their seats at risk.
Labour split over Andy Burnham's EU free movement call
Andy Burnham's suggestion that the UK should consider a return to EU free movement has drawn support from senior cabinet ministers and alarm from Labour MPs holding Brexit-voting seats, exposing a divide between the party's leadership and its MPs in former marginal seats.
Cabinet ministers back the call
Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, backed the remarks when she appeared on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. She said she would "like to have an honest conversation about what the trade-offs could be, and then put that to the people at a general election".
Stella Creasy, the Labour Movement for Europe chair and MP for Walthamstow, said Burnham was right that the UK was "long overdue for a grownup conversation about what EU freedom of movement actually means". Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, is also among the senior cabinet figures in favour of reopening the discussion and pursuing a much closer UK-EU relationship, potentially involving a return to the single market.
Red wall MPs warn of seat losses
Labour MPs from Brexit-voting areas see the debate differently. One red wall MP said colleagues in the north-east, especially coastal areas, were raising serious concerns, warning: "Andy may have to work out if he can win without them, which is brutal but true".
- In parliament recently, Jonathan Hinder, MP for Pendle, asked the prime minister to rule out restoring free movement
- Another Labour MP from a Brexit-voting area said the debate would "undoubtedly put seats at risk to Reform"
- The same MP noted, however, that Burnham was making the argument from a position of strength after lifting the party's poll ratings in recent weeks
- A senior minister under Keir Starmer called reopening the debate "brave", saying: "Theresa May, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer: what they were all trying to do was get as close as possible without freedom of movement"
What Burnham is proposing
Burnham said staying out of free movement would no longer be a red line in talks with the EU. In his view, rejoining the single market and accepting free movement could be done without another referendum, provided Labour put it in its manifesto - while fully rejoining the EU would need an in-out vote.
He acknowledged that freedom of movement carried very significant challenges, which he had spoken about in his previous time in parliament, but argued it was perhaps a less difficult type of immigration than the current one, describing past "revolving-door migration". At his party conference speech last month he raised rejoining the EU as one potential route; his latest comments suggest he now favours the option that avoids a referendum.
Where the debate goes next
Not all ministers are convinced. Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, has previously been more cautious about closer ties with Europe, telling a New Statesman event during the September Labour conference that rejoining would not be a "simple, straightforward thing" and involved "quite hard trade-offs".
Labour's manifesto pledges no return to free movement and the single market, but Burnham signalled the question could still be up for discussion at next month's EU summit.
