PM reignites Brexit war: Burnham 'won't rule out a new EU vote' - as Macron sends a 'welcome'

Published: 00:03 BST, 1 October 2026 | Updated: 01:50 BST, 1 October 2026

Andy Burnham last night raised the prospect of a referendum as he restarted the Brexit wars.

The Prime Minister provoked fury by declaring that the UK could go 'all the way' back into the European Union.

He raised other options for the country's future relationship with Brussels, including rejoining the single market or customs union along with the 'associate membership' recently offered to Canada.

And he refused to rule out a fresh national vote despite admitting it would be 'divisive'.

It came just a few months after he insisted – while campaigning to be elected in a heavily Leave-voting constituency – that he did not want to 're-run' the arguments over Brexit or 'undermine' the result of a decade ago.

Despite telling the Labour Party conference on Tuesday that he wanted to 'draw a line under a decade of division,' he is set to reignite the fight of 2016. 

Mr Burnham said in an interview: 'I can't avoid the Europe question if I'm to put out a credible ten-year plan for Britain, that's why I've started this process.'

He told ITV: 'What I think it's right to do is open up the discussion because, a decade on, we're not where we need to be, the country isn't functioning as it should.'

Prime Minister Andy Burnham provoked fury by declaring that the UK could go 'all the way' back into the European Union

The Prime Minister's comments were warmly received by European leaders with French president Emmanuel Macron declaring, in English, 'welcome back'

Pressed on whether Labour's next manifesto could promise another 'in/out' referendum, Mr Burnham told the BBC 'yeah, things are possible' but later acknowledged the need for care as 'referendums do damage, divide households and communities'.

His comments were warmly received by European leaders with French president Emmanuel Macron declaring, in English, 'welcome back', while Spain's Pedro Sanchez said Britain would be welcomed with 'open arms'.

But last night Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the Daily Mail: 'Rejoining the EU won't lower energy bills, it won't bring back the businesspeople who've left, cut the welfare bill or fund our defence properly... Instead of trying to re-fight battles of the past, what we should be talking about is what we need to do to solve the genuine challenges our country is facing.'

Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, said he had long been convinced Mr Burnham wants to rejoin the EU and warned: 'Brussels would undoubtedly seek to fully exploit the attempt.'

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will today warn at a rally in Doncaster that the PM wants to take Britain into the euro and return to freedom of movement with 500 million people on the Continent.

Mr Burnham was hit by a backlash from his own MPs in Brexit-backing 'red wall' seats as well as his constituents in Makerfield, where 65 per cent voted Leave.

Veteran Labour MP Graham Stringer said it would be a 'betrayal' for the UK to go back on the vote and warned the debate could be 'more acrimonious' than the one that took place in 2016.

'The people who want the referendum would be accused, in many ways, quite rightly, of not accepting a democratic decision. 

'Slinking back into the internal market of the EU or the customs union would be seen as sneakily trying to undermine the [vote].'

Told that polls show voters want to return to the EU, Mr Stringer said that support diminishes when they realise the terms would be worse – it would likely mean ditching the pound for the euro, losing the rebate secured by Margaret Thatcher and becoming part of the visa-free Schengen zone.

It is widely accepted that Brussels would drive a hard bargain if the UK sought to rejoin with even current Cabinet ministers admitting it would be on less favourable terms than before.

A European Commission spokesman said: 'It is for the UK Government to set out how it wishes to develop its relationship with the EU. 

'We remain open to engaging on the options it may put forward.'