Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he will set out “different options” for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Speaking to Labour’s conference in Liverpool, he did not reveal whether this would include rejoining the EU. But he said: “Brexit has done more harm than good”. There are reports that the Prime Minister is considering including plans to reverse Brexit , and rejoin the bloc, in Labour’s next election manifesto.
He told the Labour conference: “Brexit hasn’t given us control.” Mr Burnham said that in fact the UK had “lost some of our control” over the economy and immigration. He said: “Later this year there will be a UK-EU summit” where immigration would be on the agenda. But he said better immigration controls, and future trade deals, are “not enough.” Instead, the UK “must decide on a long-term relationship with what is still our largest market”.
Andy Burnham delivers his speech (Image: Getty)
Mr Burnham insisted “Brexit has done more harm than good … so I will take the opportunity around the summit to lay out to you, lay out to the country, what I belive the different options are”.
He said this would “give us clarity about our position and the future of the continent that we live in.”
In other announcements, Labour will fight the next election on a promise to introduce a form of proportional representation, Andy Burnham said as he announced a national commission on electoral reform.
A new National Care Service will be “free at the point of use”, and impose no charges on the basic state pension, Andy Burnham announced.
The Government will end the ban on public ownership of water companies paving the way for the nationalisation of firms that do not “serve the public interest”, Andy Burnham has told the Labour Party conference.
Councils will be given the power to take over poor quality homes if landlords refuse to improve them, Andy Burnham has announced.
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Mr Burnham confirmed he wants to end the current pensions triple lock, which guarantees increases in line with the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5%, in order to free up cash to fund his long-held ambition of creating a NHS-style care service in England.
Mr Burnham, who replaced Sir Keir Starmer in No 10 in July, claimed there was a “sense of the powers-that-be pulling against the people, not with them”.
“If there’s one thing I want to put right, it’s that,” he said.
Taking aim at the changes introduced since the Thatcher administration in the 1980s, Mr Burnham said: “Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time.
“Deindustrialisation. Deregulation. Privatisation. Austerity. Brexit.
“And what has it given us? A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest.”
Andy Burnham Issues Two-Word Brexit Bombshell to Labour Conference – ‘More Harm Than Good’
Andy Burnham has reignited one of Britain’s most divisive political debates after declaring at the Labour Party conference that Brexit has done “more harm than good” and promising to set out a range of options for the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the European Union.
The remarks, delivered during Burnham’s first Labour conference speech as prime minister, represented one of his clearest statements yet on the direction he believes Britain should consider after leaving the EU. Rather than announcing a specific plan to reverse Brexit, Burnham said the country needed to examine different possibilities and decide what kind of long-term relationship it wanted with its largest trading partner.
His comments immediately placed Brexit back at the centre of British political debate, ten years after the 2016 referendum. They also opened questions about whether Labour could eventually move beyond the post-Brexit arrangements negotiated by previous governments.
Burnham’s blunt assessment of Brexit
The central line from Burnham’s speech was unusually direct.
“I cannot say to you truthfully that where we are is good enough. Brexit has done more harm than good,” he told Labour delegates in Liverpool.
He argued that leaving the European Union had not delivered the level of control promised by Brexit supporters. Instead, he said Britain had lost some control over its economy because of a prolonged period of weak growth, while immigration cooperation with European partners had also become more difficult.
Burnham’s official conference speech described Brexit alongside deindustrialisation, deregulation, privatisation and austerity as part of a longer period in which he believes Britain moved in the wrong direction. He argued that the country needed a different economic and political approach.
The statement was significant because Burnham did not simply call for technical improvements to the existing UK-EU relationship. He said the country ultimately needed to decide on a “long-term relationship” with Europe.
That wording left open several possible futures.
A debate about what comes next
Burnham did not announce that Britain would immediately seek to rejoin the European Union.
Instead, he promised to use an upcoming UK-EU summit to explain the different options available to the country. Those possibilities were subsequently described in greater detail when Burnham spoke to broadcasters following his conference speech.
The options could range from maintaining the current arrangements to pursuing closer cooperation through a customs union or single-market relationship. Burnham also indicated that the possibility of eventually returning to full EU membership should not automatically be excluded.
That represents a significant change in the political conversation.
For years, Labour’s position had focused on improving Britain’s relationship with Brussels without reversing Brexit. The party’s 2024 manifesto, for example, ruled out returning to the EU single market or customs union and rejected a return to freedom of movement.
Burnham’s comments therefore move the discussion beyond simply negotiating individual agreements.
At the same time, he has not presented a timetable for rejoining the EU, nor has he committed the government to membership. His position is currently framed as an examination of the available choices.
That distinction matters.
Trade and economic growth
One of Burnham’s principal arguments concerns economic growth.
The prime minister told Labour delegates that Britain needed to restore a higher level of growth and prosperity. He linked that objective to Britain’s relationship with Europe, describing the EU as the country’s largest market.
His argument is that the current arrangements may not provide Britain with the economic opportunities or certainty required for the decades ahead.
Supporters of closer European integration have long argued that reducing barriers with Britain’s nearest major trading market could benefit businesses involved in cross-border trade. However, changing the UK’s relationship with the EU would also involve difficult negotiations and potentially require Britain to accept rules and obligations that come with closer integration.
A customs union, for example, could reduce some trade barriers on goods by aligning external tariffs, but it would not automatically restore the full benefits of single-market membership. A return to the single market would involve much deeper regulatory alignment with the EU.
Full membership would represent an even more substantial change.
Burnham therefore faces a complicated task: explaining what closer European cooperation could achieve while also setting out the costs, obligations and practical limitations attached to each possible arrangement.
Immigration is another major issue
Burnham also connected Brexit to immigration.
His conference speech argued that Britain had lost some control over immigration cooperation after leaving the EU. He pointed to the difficulty of working with European partners and said the forthcoming UK-EU summit would include discussions about how Britain and the bloc could cooperate more effectively.
This is politically sensitive because immigration was one of the defining issues during the Brexit campaign.
Brexit supporters argued that leaving the EU would allow Britain to regain control of its borders and immigration policy. Burnham’s argument is that Brexit did not ultimately produce the degree of control promised and that cooperation with European countries remains necessary.
He also acknowledged public concerns about irregular migration across the English Channel. In his speech, he highlighted reductions in small-boat arrivals and net migration while arguing that Britain still needed greater cooperation with European partners.
The debate therefore is not simply about whether Britain should have closer economic ties with Brussels. It also concerns how the country manages migration, security and cross-border cooperation.
The political consequences
Burnham’s intervention is likely to keep Brexit at the centre of arguments between Labour and parties that want to preserve Britain’s current post-Brexit settlement.
The timing is particularly notable. The remarks came roughly a decade after the 2016 referendum and at a moment when the political debate over Britain’s relationship with Europe has begun to shift.
For some voters, Brexit remains an important question of national sovereignty and democratic choice. For others, the economic and practical consequences of leaving the EU have become more important.
Burnham is attempting to move the discussion towards the future rather than simply revisiting the referendum itself.
His message is essentially that Britain has already left the EU and that the next question should be what relationship it wants with Europe over the coming decades.
That approach allows him to argue for closer cooperation without formally announcing a decision to reverse Brexit.
A difficult balancing act for Labour
The challenge for Burnham will be balancing competing views within the country and within Labour itself.
Some Labour voters favour significantly closer relations with the EU, while others voted for Brexit and may regard any discussion of reversing it as unacceptable.
The same division exists across the wider electorate.
Burnham therefore stressed the importance of building a national consensus. He has presented the forthcoming examination of Britain’s European options as a process through which the country can consider the alternatives rather than as a predetermined decision to rejoin the EU.
That distinction could become increasingly important as the government develops its long-term policy.
If ministers eventually recommend a customs union, single-market participation or another form of closer integration, the government would need to explain precisely what Britain would gain and what obligations would follow.
If ministers instead conclude that the existing relationship should remain largely unchanged, Burnham would need to explain why the concerns raised in his conference speech had not justified a more substantial change.
Brexit’s next chapter
The phrase “more harm than good” may have been only a few words, but it marked a substantial political statement.
Burnham has not announced an immediate return to the European Union. He has not committed Britain to the single market or customs union, and he has not provided a timetable for changing the country’s constitutional relationship with Brussels.
What he has done is reopen the range of possibilities.
The prime minister says Britain should stop avoiding the question of its long-term relationship with Europe and examine the practical choices available. Reuters reported that he subsequently described the possibilities as ranging from maintaining the current arrangement to closer economic integration and potentially “going all the way” towards EU membership.
For supporters of Brexit, that raises concerns about whether the referendum settlement is being gradually undone. For advocates of closer European ties, it represents a willingness to reconsider arrangements that they believe have not delivered the expected economic and political benefits.
The evidence and consequences of those competing arguments will remain central to the debate.
What is clear is that Brexit, once treated by many politicians as a settled question, has returned to the heart of Britain’s political agenda.
Burnham’s two-word verdict — “more harm than good” — does not by itself determine Britain’s future relationship with Europe. But his decision to place the full range of options on the table ensures that the argument over Brexit is entering another significant phase.