UK – Burnham does not rule out the possibility of returning to the EU

LONDON, September 30 /ATSH-DPA/ – British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has admitted that he may propose a return to the European Union, while he reviews the United Kingdom’s future relations with Brussels.

Burnham, who has blamed Brexit for a decade of uncertainty and division, said he would examine the “pros and cons” of all options.

In his first speech as leader at the Labour Party conference, the prime minister said Brexit had caused “more harm than good” and promised he would present the options to the country around the time of a UK-EU summit, expected to be held later this year.

He told the BBC that he did not want to leave the issue “hanging” and that he wanted to be clear about “where we want Britain to go in the next decade.”

Asked whether he wanted the United Kingdom to rejoin the bloc, he told the “Today” programme that he wanted to “examine the options.”

“We could stay as we are. That is certainly an option, if people think that is the right place to stay,” he said on the programme.

“We could look at what (former Conservative chancellor) George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market, or we could go all the way,” he stressed.

Labour’s 2024 election manifesto ruled out the possibility of membership in a customs union, a return to the single market, or allowing the return of freedom of movement with the EU.

However, Burnham has hinted that he is willing to recommend going beyond those red lines in the future.

“There are clearly options that need to be considered and we need to see what is feasible and what the pros and cons of each option would be,” he told the BBC. /a.jor./