Burnham calls out Brexit failure: ‘The emperor has no clothes’

“It’s like the Emperor’s new clothes – where no one is prepared to say the obvious truth,” he was set to say at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London on Monday evening.

“Well, I say it as I see it. And to be frank, the Emperor has nothing on.”

Andy Burnham talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the European Political Community summit in Dublin

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With quitting the EU estimated to have wiped billions off Britain’s trade, he was due to stress: “The Brexit we were given has not worked.

“We have lost more than we gained.”

Ahead of a UK-EU summit on Friday in Brussels, Mr Burnham was set to lay out three conditions for an agreement:

* It must be consistent with Labour’s election manifesto and Government red lines, so no return to the Single Market, the Customs Union, or freedom of movement.

Lord Sadiq Khan is leading Labour calls for Britain to rejoin the EU

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* It must improve the Brexit deal and bring it closer, in his view, to what people thought they were voting for in 2016, rather than the “hard Brexit that no one ever seriously argued for in the referendum”.

* It must pass the so-called Makerfield test, the constituency he represents, by delivering “real, tangible improvements in people’s everyday lives”, particularly for “neglected” communities.

So any deal, he added, must cut costs for businesses, ease pressure on prices for consumers and create more opportunities for young people.

He accused the Tories of “burning all our bridges” in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

Some of Mr Burnham’s Cabinet ministers have made clear they are concerned that he risks alienating some Labour supporters who voted for the UK to quit the EU a decade ago.

Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson

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Conservative Deputy Leader Alex Burghart accused the Prime Minister of “reopening a debate the country settled long ago, while ignoring the challenges facing Britain today”.

He said: “Instead of tackling the spiralling welfare bill, fixing our economy, and properly funding our defence, Burnham is preparing to hand Brussels more money in an effort to distract from the mess his party has gotten us into.”