Burnham says Conservative Brexit deal was bad for the UK and harder than promised
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the Conservative government's Brexit deal was bad for the UK and led to a harder Brexit than was promised at the 2016 referendum, the Guardian reported. He made the remarks as he prepared to set out his approach to the UK's relationship with the European Union, which left the bloc in 2020.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, Burnham told ministers that he would shortly write to cabinet on the subject. He also warned them not to individually advocate for specific options, or to predict the likely outcome of the EU relationship review process.
Burnham described a two-stage approach to reforming Brexit. The first stage would make initial changes that stay within Labour's 2024 manifesto, the party's election platform. That manifesto committed to remaining outside the EU's customs union, a trading arrangement with shared tariffs on goods from outside the bloc, and outside its single market, which sets common rules that let goods and services move across borders. It also ruled out reinstating freedom of movement, the right to live and work in each other's countries.
Any more substantial changes to the relationship would wait until after the next election, Burnham said, and would be for the public to decide.
At prime minister's questions, Burnham discussed Brexit with Kemi Badenoch. He said the country had been left paralysed by the lack of a Conservative plan after the vote, according to the Guardian.
In a separate report, the Telegraph said Burnham had argued that Britain had not voted for a hard Brexit, a term generally used for a clean break from the EU's single market and customs union. The same report said he had repeatedly declined to rule out a referendum on rejoining the EU.
The Independent reported that Burnham is set to meet EU leaders at a key summit in Brussels. Asked about his position on the European Union, he insisted there was "no confusion at all", the BBC reported.
Earlier in the week, Burnham said he wanted a "factual" and "evidence-based debate" about returning to free movement between Britain and Europe, the BBC reported.
