Burnham: not proposed return to EU freedom of movement
Andy Burnham has said he has not proposed a return to freedom of movement, the system that let people live and work in each other's countries without a visa. In an ITV interview broadcast on Tuesday, 3 November, he said: "I have not proposed freedom of movement coming back."
Burnham said he will not run ahead of public opinion, and that the public need to be the boss on whatever happens with Brexit. The term Brexit refers to Britain's departure from the European Union.
His position has been developing over the past week. On 26 October, Reuters reported that he agreed with the principle of migration reform. The same day, he said he wanted a "factual" and "evidence-based debate" about returning to free movement, and that he would welcome an "honest discussion" on the subject, according to the BBC. Asked by reporters whether he would allow Britain to join the EU's free movement scheme without a referendum, he answered "no", according to The Guardian. On 1 November, the BBC reported him saying there needs to be an honest discussion about the UK's future relationship with the EU.
The debate sits alongside a separate set of migration changes from the government. Shabana Mahmood was due on Monday, 2 November, to set out reforms to how migrants can settle in Britain. Earlier, she had proposed extending the time needed to secure indefinite leave to remain, a permanent right to live in the UK, from five years to 15. Indefinite leave to remain is commonly called settlement.
Mahmood said that, as a result of the rule changes, roughly half a million people who would previously have settled after five years will not now do so. She also said people who come to the UK on work visas will have to wait a decade to be granted permanent residency, according to Yahoo News.
Mahmood told Sky News that Brexit had a "very significant impact" on the UK's ability to control migration. She declined on Sky News to say how she felt about the UK rejoining the freedom of movement system.
She said Labour is absolutely bound by the terms of its manifesto, the party's published election programme, which ruled out membership of the single market before the next election. The single market is the EU's trading area, with shared rules on goods, services and people.
BBC presenter Iain Watson put to Mahmood that concessions on settlement plans would, in effect, cost about £7.5bn. She said an impact assessment would be published in due course.
