UK begins talks with EU on long-term ties that could include free movement
Britain's Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has said British officials have begun discussions with the European Union about a long-term relationship that could include a return to free movement. Free movement is the right of people to live and work in each other's countries. Reynolds made the remarks on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 27 October 2026.
Reynolds said the immediate focus is a UK-EU summit on 20 November, where the two sides aim to seal an agreement easing some trading restrictions and a youth mobility deal, which would govern how young people can live and work in each other's countries. He said the changes planned for the summit include a food and drink deal and an arrangement on emissions trading, the system of putting a price on carbon pollution. He also said no "assumptions" have been made about what the future relationship could look like, and that uncertainty over it is damaging British business.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pushed the question further. In an interview with the Sunday Times, he called for an "honest discussion" about freedom of movement with the EU, and said that staying out of free movement would no longer be a red line in talks. He said rejoining the EU's single market, the bloc's shared trading area, and accepting free movement could be done without another referendum if it were included in Labour's manifesto, the party's policy programme for an election. Fully rejoining the EU, he said, would require another in-out vote.
Reynolds insisted he agrees with Burnham's drive for closer ties with the EU, after reports of a split between the two men. He was also clear about who would have the final say. "The British people are the people who will decide this. They're the boss on this," he said, adding that no decision on the future relationship will be made without voters having a say.
The summit is also expected to address a separate dispute. Earlier in October, Reynolds said the UK will not put tariffs on Chinese vehicles despite pressure from the EU, and that he would not be coerced into aligning British policy with the EU's approach on Chinese electric vehicle tariffs. The prime minister intends to raise the UK's exclusion from the EU's "Made in Europe" law at the 20 November summit.
