Burnham to Push for New UK-EU Trade Deals at November Reset Summit
Andy Burnham told the House of Commons on 12 October he will push for new post-Brexit deals with the European Union and use the next reset summit to improve trade relations.
The summit will be held in Brussels on 20 November 2026, according to The Guardian. London and Brussels hope to sign agreements there on food and drink trade, youth mobility, a scheme that lets young people live and work abroad for a limited time, and emissions trading, a system where companies buy and sell permits for pollution. Burnham said the deals could add £10bn a year to the UK economy. The date is fixed. The agenda is set.
Burnham told MPs he will attend the November meeting to advance the trade agenda. He said keeping the current EU relationship as it is is "not good enough" and that stepping back from closer ties would be a "major dereliction of duty". After the summit, he promised a "serious dialogue" about options for the UK's long-term relationship with the EU. The public "will be the boss" in any future decision, as reported in parliamentary live coverage UK Politics Live.
He said he was not reopening the Brexit debate and that he respected the referendum result. He said he did not think Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit campaign had changed the final result. He also said a new deal with the EU could help tackle illegal immigration, according to the BBC.
The Conservatives criticised the government's focus on Brexit ahead of the summit, the BBC reported in its live coverage. The November meeting was postponed from July 2026 after Keir Starmer's resignation, Reuters previously reported. Burnham had earlier told the BBC he would attend. On 20 January 2025, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds met with Burnham to discuss government plans for the UK/EU reset and measures to make digital trade easier.
The broader context here is sequencing. Burnham is separating a short-term package of deals from the longer question of what the UK-EU relationship should look like. Food and drink, youth mobility and emissions trading each have different rules and political sensitivities. Putting them together for one summit sets a deadline and lets each side trade concessions across areas.
Looking at what this means for negotiators, the promise of talks after the summit may matter more than the summit itself. By saying the referendum stands but the public will decide, Burnham leaves different long-term outcomes open without choosing one now. That gives Brussels someone willing to discuss structure, and gives Westminster a way to manage expectations. The points to watch are the negotiating mandate, the timetable, and whether the £10bn figure becomes the test for November.
