Andy Burnham leaves door open to reversing Brexit and rejoining EU at next election in huge Labour U-turn

ANDY Burnham has left the door open to reversing Brexit after refusing to rule out a pledge to rejoin the EU at the next election. The PM said whether Labour could promise to take Britain back into the bloc in its next manifesto was a question “for another day”. Prime Minister Andy Burnham Credit: Getty Sir Keir Starmer with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Credit: EPA It marks a significant shift in tone from predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, who vowed to “make Brexit work” and ruled out returning to the EU, Single Market or customs union. Mr Burnham was pressed on his Brexit plans as he flew to New York for his first United Nations General Assembly as PM. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! He said: “Our focus at the moment is on a UK-EU summit which we hope will take place later this year. “My immediate priority is to build on the good work that Keir did in rebuilding bridges. “Because those bridges were broken in the early part of this decade, and Keir did a good job in re-establishing that relationship. “What we have got to do is now go to the next level in terms of reaching practical agreement that will further boost the British economy.” Referring to rejoining the EU, he added: “The other issues you discuss… they are for another day.” Mr Burnham has previously said he wants Britain to rejoin the EU “within my lifetime”, although he later rowed back, saying he was not proposing doing so and respected the 2016 referendum. Most read in The Sun His Europe minister Hamish Falconer has also repeatedly stopped short of ruling out a rejoin pledge in Labour’s next manifesto. The PM will meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in New York today as he tries to deepen ties with Brussels. But he warned the EU’s “Made in Europe” measures could hurt British firms and supply chains. Mr Burnham said: “We do have concerns about Made in Europe, which is something that could affect British industry and British supply chains. “I will, in a constructive spirit, put on the table some of our concerns towards those things, at the same time as working towards what we hope will be a successful EU-UK summit later this year.” The PM also told reporters that Brexit will also feature in the PM’s speech to world leaders at the UN, where he will reflect on the political turbulence of the past decade. He said: “What we’ve experienced is when that turbulence comes, when outside actors seek to manipulate, to distort facts, influence the British democratic process — going into the next decade we need to be clear-eyed about that and become stronger and more on the front foot about challenging that. “Perhaps Britain can say we have experienced some of the turbulence before others in terms of the politics of recent times. “We need to be clearer where outside forces, our enemies, are trying to manipulate that opinion and feeling to serve their interests, not ours.” Comment now