Andy Burnham will on Monday formally reopen the fraught national “conversation” about Brexit, telling MPs that refusing to countenance closer UK relations with the EU would be “a major dereliction of duty”.
The prime minister will claim that a new deal with the EU, expected to be announced at a Brussels summit on November 20, would boost economic growth and tackle illegal migration. Burnham has said that the UK could eventually apply to rejoin the EU.
Burnham’s decision to argue the UK must move closer to Brussels comes amid warnings from industry that the bloc’s emerging “made in Europe” agenda poses a significant threat to UK manufacturing.
The summit date is expected to be confirmed later this week, with France digging in over its insistence that Britain should offer EU students “home fees” access to British universities as part of a new youth experience scheme.
Britain is seeking to push any final agreements on university fees beyond the summit, while the EU is saying the November 20 summit will be too early to finalise arrangements for any future British access to a “made in Europe” EU industrial policy.
Speaking ahead of Burnham’s statement to MPs on Monday afternoon, a Number 10 official said: “Andy understands why some politicians don’t want to face up to the reality that Brexit has not delivered what they once promised.
“But it is time for a different conversation about what our long-term relationship should be. Sticking with the status quo and not working relentlessly to secure a good deal that boosts growth would be a major dereliction of duty.”
Burnham is expected to call for what Number 10 called a “calm, clear-eyed look at what is best for Britain when it comes to dealing with Europe”.
At Labour’s annual conference last month, Burnham said he wanted to find a “consensus” about Britain’s future relationship with the EU ahead of the next election and that his party’s manifesto would reflect that verdict.
He said the options could include going “all the way” — applying to rejoin the EU — while other alternatives could see Britain rejoining a customs union or seeking to enter the single market.
Next month’s summit is seen as a staging post to closer relations.
Burnham’s statement comes as UK and EU negotiators enter a crunch week of talks on the EU-UK “reset” designed to improve trading conditions between the two sides.
The UK is seeking to remove costly border checks on animal and plant products, re-link the UK and EU carbon trading markets that were severed at Brexit and agree a “Youth Experience Scheme” for 18 to 30-year-olds to travel, work and study in each others’ countries for up to three years.
Deep divisions remain between the two sides over the youth mobility elements, with EU member states, led by France, demanding that it includes access to UK universities for EU students at the same price as UK students.
EU diplomats said the UK government has offered to discuss the issue of tuition fees, but only after the November summit has concluded — a position that some EU member states say is unacceptable.
Some EU countries have told the European Commission, which is leading the negotiations, that it must withhold agreement on other sections of the deal until the issue of tuition fees is resolved.
Disagreements also remain over the size of any scheme, with the sides haggling over numbers that range from 50,000 to 150,000 places.
With EU member states requesting at least four weeks to review any documents agreed between EU and UK negotiators, diplomats said pressure was on to resolve differences this week in order to meet the November 20 summit deadline.
On Sunday, Burnham claimed that the 2016 Brexit vote was targeted by Russian “state sponsored interference” without giving any further details.