In major political shift UK’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declined to rule out incorporating a future pledge for the UK to rejoin the European Union into a future Labour election manifesto.
Speaking to reporters while traveling to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Burnham addressed questions regarding the long-term trajectory of Britain’s relationship with the bloc.
While he previously expressed a personal desire to see the UK return to the EU in his lifetime, he maintained that his immediate focus remains on securing practical economic agreements at an upcoming UK-EU summit and continuing to “rebuild bridges” broken earlier in the decade.
Burnham emphasized that questions regarding full EU membership are “for another day,” prioritising instead the upcoming UK-EU summit and addressing friction over EU legislative proposals like “Made in Europe”
The Prime Minister is facing mounting calls from several senior Labour figures and metropolitan mayors—such as Sadiq Khan and Wes Streeting—urging the party to consider rejoining the customs union or single market to stimulate economic growth.
Pro-EU groups and recent polling indicate increasing electoral appetite for closer alignment, placing pressure on the leadership to look past current red lines, though doing so risks reigniting deeply polarized domestic debates over Brexit.
Andy Burnham has opened the door to fighting the next election on the UK rejoining the EU, but said his immediate priority was continuing to rebuild bridges with European allies.
The prime minister, who will hold his first meeting with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday, did not rule out including reversing Brexit in Labour’s next manifesto – but suggested the country should focus on securing closer trading ties first.
“Our focus at the moment is on a UK/EU summit which we hope will take place later this year.
“My immediate priority is to build on the good work that Keir did in rebuilding bridges. Because those bridges were broken in the early part of this decade. And Keir did a good job in re-establishing that relationship.
“What we have got to do now is go to the next level in terms of reaching practical agreement that will further boost the British economy. And those issues are the substance of the summit alongside EU requests around youth mobility.”
The prime minister admitted he had concerns about the bloc’s “made in Europe” legislation, which is designed to curb China’s increasing presence but could also affect British industry and supply chains.
