Andy Burnham Declines to Rule Out EU Rejoin Pledge in Future Labour Manifesto

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declined to rule out a future Labour manifesto pledge to rejoin the European Union, describing the question as one for "another day" while emphasising his current focus on an upcoming UK-EU summit. Speaking on his way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Burnham said the immediate priority is building on diplomatic groundwork laid by his predecessor. Senior Labour figures and trade unions have called for the party to reconsider its position on the single market and customs union, while EU leaders have indicated the UK would not qualify for associate membership status recently offered to Canada.

En route to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he did not rule out adding a commitment to re-enter the EU to the party's forthcoming election manifesto. Starmer took steps to put the bilateral relationship on a more stable footing. Burnham is due to hold talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the UN summit in the coming days, with outstanding matters to be handled through a separate process. Since taking up the role in July, Burnham has repeatedly stated his opposition to Brexit, arguing that the country had pursued a series of flawed policy directions stretching back to the 1980s, with the referendum serving as the endpoint of that long-running course. In his opening address to the House of Commons as Prime Minister, he argued that Brexit had compounded the economic consequences of the Thatcher era by ushering in an extended period of weak growth and stalled regeneration, and that a frank assessment of previous policy shortcomings was necessary before any genuine recovery could take hold. Trade unions have called on Burnham to abandon what they characterise as Sir Keir's rigid policy positions on rejoining the single market and customs union, commitments he put forward before the previous general election. European manufacturing contends with its own particular set of pressures.

Andy Burnham Declines to Rule Out EU Rejoin Pledge in Future Labour Manifesto

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Andy Burnham Declines to Rule Out EU Rejoin Pledge in Future Labour Manifesto

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