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Andy Burnham could commit to a second Brexit referendum (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham has said a second Brexit referendum is a possibility in Labour‘s next election manifesto. The Prime Minister also declined to rule out skipping a vote and fighting the next General Election on a pledge to rejoin the European Union.
It comes after Mr Burnham used his Labour conference speech to attack Brexit, claiming it had done “more harm than good”. He promised to set out the options to the country on the future relationship with Brussels around the time of a UK-EU summit later this year.
Speaking to ITV News, Mr Burnham said: “I can’t avoid the Europe question if I’m to put out a credible 10-year plan for Britain.”
Asked whether that could mean sticking to the status quo, he said: “I don’t know what Europe will say about the different options.
“We’ve got to look at where we are, where they are and see what is a realistic and viable approach in all of the areas that we mentioned and then open up a conversation about it.”
He said his “instincts” were that “it is better to be closer” to the EU, with all of the threats that we see around the world”.
The Labour leader insisted he was not “leaping towards” any one option, such as a referendum, telling the BBC: “I think we’d have to see where the options fell out, what people feel about them, and then, depending on what people seem to be pointing towards, what we then do.”
But pressed on whether he could promise an in-out referendum after the next election, he said: “Yeah, things are possible.”
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He acknowledged that “we have to proceed with great care” because “referendums do damage” and “divide households and communities,” amid concerns over reopening the wounds of the 2016 Brexit vote.
Challenged over whether he could skip another referendum and put rejoining the EU in the manifesto, Mr Burnham told Channel 4 News: “I wouldn’t rule anything out at this moment.”
Before entering Downing Street, Mr Burnham had said he wanted to see the UK back in the EU within his lifetime.
But when he was campaigning to win the Leave-voting Makerfield seat, he insisted he did not want to “re-run” Brexit arguments.
Tory deputy leader Alex Burghart said: “You cannot trust a word Andy Burnham says. Just a few weeks ago, he said he wanted to move on from the Brexit arguments, and now he is dragging Britain back into them by floating the prospect of rejoining the EU.
“Labour cannot blame a democratic vote from over a decade ago for the consequences of their own economic decisions. While they look backwards, the Conservatives will look forward.”