Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Andy Burnham said he wants to rejoin the EU in his lifetime, but said he will not ‘move ahead’ of public opinion as he ruled out an early general election
Andy Burnham has blamed Brexit for the small boats crisis(Image: Good Morning Britain/ITV)
Andy Burnham has blamed Brexit for the small boat crisis and said he wants to rejoin the EU in his lifetime.
But the Prime Minister said he will not “move ahead” of public opinion – and said there is no certainty Labour will propose the move in the next general election manifesto. In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the PM also insisted he is not planning to call a snap election, despite polls showing Labour has enjoyed a bounce since he became leader.
Speaking to hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley, Mr Burnham said: “I’ve said I’m going to be honest and say in my lifetime I would like to see that (rejoining the EU) happen, but I am not going to move ahead of the public. I am not going to dictate in terms of my own opinions here.”
And he said that Britain’s inability to return migrants to Europe was the reason for the small boats crisis. The PM faces pressure to reach an agreement with the EU on migration at a summit next month. This would once again allow the UK to send failed asylum seekers back to the continent, as it was able to do before leaving the bloc.
Mr Burnham said: “I don’t think things have worked out as people said they would at the time, particularly when it comes to immigration. I think we’ve got weaker control now.
“The reason the small boats crisis has arisen is because we can’t return people, and people know we can’t do that in the same way that we used to be able to do. And it’s saying things that I think are getting missed. We need to be honest with people about where we are.”
And he stated: “We have a decade of experience now looking back at Brexit, and I don’t think it has played out as people said it would at the time. We got a harder Brexit than was proposed in the referendum campaign.
“It’s weakened our economy. It’s also weakened our control of immigration, and that might surprise people, because that was the big issue. But the small boats crisis has arisen since, and we have a different form of migration now.
“However, I’m not proposing rejoining in this Parliament. We’re way away from that at this particular moment in time. What I am saying is we need to take some practical steps to make the arrangement work better than the arrangement we’ve got right now.”
The Prime Minister was also challenged about growing speculation that a snap general election is on the cards. Asked if he was softening the country to go to the polls, Mr Burnham said: “No, no, I’ve ruled that out.”
Pressed by Ms Reid on whether he had absolutely ruled it out, the PM said: “I have. I did that before the Labour conference.
“Because I just don’t think people want another backward-looking squabble. They want me to get on with the job and making life better for people, which is what I’m trying to do.”
Elsewhere the PM was tight-lipped about the Budget on Wednesday – the first since he entered No10. Mr Burnham said he had asked Chancellor John Healey to look at the standing charge on gas bills to “see if there’s something that we can do there”.
He said: “What we’ve got to do is be relentless, I think, around energy bills, and look at every way that we can to get them down.” Pressed by Mr Madeley on whether there would be welfare cuts, he said: “Social security is about the resilience of our communities and the strength of our localities. That’s what that is about.
“If you have a situation where you have a million young people not in education, employment, or training, that doesn’t strengthen national resilience and national security. What you need to do is do something to get them on the right path, get them that opportunity.”
