The unelected PM is leading Britain in a ridiculous Hokey Cokey, which will ultimately lead to a Brexit betrayal – it is what Labour wanted all along, writes Giles Sheldrick.
PM Andy Burnham. (Image: Getty)
Clueless Andy Burnham’s position on the European Union resembles someone desperately trying to scramble back on board a sinking ship. Britain’s unelected Prime Minister has refused to ask the country whether it wants him in charge.
If you think Britain is a rudderless mess now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Under Labour, the UK is paralysed by inertia, but what lies ahead, thanks to this ridiculous Hokey Cokey, are years of misery, the re-running of old arguments and, ultimately, the betrayal of the people. It is what Labour wanted all along.
But it has been one of the worst-kept secrets in politics that Labour wanted to run back into the arms of its brethren in Brussels.
Burnham – the Messiah without a Mandate – is way out of his depth. His prattling about slavery reparations has shown that.
But as he leads us, the country, on a pointless fandango, he’s played his hand – and the EU has us over a barrel.
Former Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier. (Image: Getty)
During the Makerfield by-election that returned him to Parliament – and subsequently saw him crowned PM – Burnham promised he would not re-run the arguments of Brexit.
And in case you were blissfully unaware as to where that leads, here is what Britain’s bête noire, former chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, has to say.
While the UK might not have to adopt the Euro if it reversed Brexit and remarried into the federal family, it would have to accept the free movement.
And Mr Barnier said: “There is no possible negotiation on any kind of cherry-picking or the single market ‘a la carte’. The UK knows quite perfectly the conditions to be part of and to rejoin the single market and the customs union.”
And that’s it. Britain’s front door would be swung back open once again.
Rejoining would mean the UK accepting rules that allow EU citizens to move to Britain to live and work, alongside the free movement of goods, services and capital.
Mischievous Mr Barnier said the decision to seek EU membership again rests with Britain and it would be “the choice of the UK people” for the Government to request fresh negotiations.
The mask is slowly slipping, with Burnham salivating at the prospect of taking us back as Labour acolytes, including former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, line up to trot out the same old tired line that the UK should be back in the EU because Brexit had made us all “poorer, weaker and less secure”.
Ms Reeves said those wanting to rejoin (including her and the rest of the rabid Left) had to make compelling arguments to the public – precisely what our unelected and duplicitous prime minister said would not happen. Ergo, a second referendum.
Brexit saw the people rise up in a democratic exercise without precedent, but the result has never been accepted by the we-know-best brigade, of which Labour is the best in class.
It is a major reason why Britain has been politically and economically impotent for a decade.
In case he needs reminding, Burnham is a squatter in No 10, a man running a country without a mandate, and yet has the brass neck to overturn the result of a democratic vote.
And if he thinks he can take us back without a fight, he’s in for a very nasty surprise.