LIVERPOOL, England — Andy Burnham is planning to go big on Brexit. For his party, the question is: How big? The U.K. prime minister is now widely expected to use his annual speech to Labour’s party conference in Liverpool on Tuesday to talk up closer ties with the EU.
But Burnham will have to strike a delicate balance between those in his party who want to walk back Brexit — and those who want to make peace with it. Hours ahead of Burnham’s speech, cabinet members were far from speaking with one voice on the issue. Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, said at the POLITICO Pub on the sidelines of the conference that going beyond EU plans inherited from Keir Starmer for a reset of relations was “not possible nor desirable.” “I think there are ways we can improve our links on defense and security, but beyond that, I’m not going to speculate,” she added.
Her comments came after Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Sunday warned that “constitutional questions” around Britain's EU relationship were causing “uncertainty” for business. Also speaking at the POLITICO Pub, he warned against moves to join the customs union — which he said would involve the U.K. having to “accept a whole range of alignment on regulatory issues.” Yet Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told delegates from the main Labour conference stage that the U.K’s future lay in a “deeper” partnership with the EU. It's how we pursue our interests from trade to defense.
It's where we build and protect our alliances … I say to this conference, our future lies in a stronger, deeper partnership with the European Union.” Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, meanwhile, said the U.K.’s return to the EU is inevitable and that Burnham should start preparing the British public for that reality. Burnham’s recently appointed EU Relations Minister Hamish Falconer told Labour conference delegates on Monday that the prime minister wanted to go “further and faster” than his predecessor. Falconer, a former hostage negotiator who served in Britain’s diplomatic corps before being elected to parliament in 2024, confirmed the public would “hear a bit from the prime minister” on the EU.
At a packed rally of Labour activists on Sunday, Stella Creasy, the MP who chairs the Labour Movement for Europe caucus urged Burnham to drop Keir Starmer’s “red lines” in negotiations with the bloc. Starmer's manifesto pledges rule out membership of the single market, customs union and free movement — and make a much closer deal with Brussels all-but impossible. Labour figures disagree on whether relitigating Brexit is a good use of their political time.
Proponents of a closer relationship say the issue is well-placed to enthuse and win back defectors to the Greens and Liberal Democrats. Skeptics say it will do more to turn off voters wary of well-worn debates and prime proponents of Brexit to accuse politicians of betraying the will of the people. There are genuine economic disagreements, too.
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