No 10 gathering evidence on public support for rejoining the EU

Senior Downing Street officials have been privately reaching out to thinktanks and pollsters to test public support for Britain rejoining the EU, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. The behind-the-scenes outreach suggests No 10 is quietly gathering evidence on how voters would respond to reversing Brexit, going further than prime minister Andy Burnham’s public remarks that rejoining is among the options on the table.

Burnham told BBC Radio’s Today programme on Wednesday that Britain must weigh “the pros and cons” of different relationships with Europe — from the single market and customs union to going “all the way” back into the bloc. He had earlier refused to rule out putting EU membership in a future Labour manifesto.

The numbers may be driving the curiosity: a June Survation poll found 55% would vote to rejoin, while polling analyst Sir John Curtice says 61% now back rejoining — the highest level since the 2016 vote.

Burnham remains bound by Keir Starmer’s 2024 manifesto red lines: no customs union, no single market and no return of freedom of movement. Critics pounced regardless — Reform UK’s Richard Tice accused Burnham of trying to “sneak us back into Brussels via the back door”, while Tory deputy leader Alex Burghart said he was looking “backwards”, AFP reports.

The July UK-EU summit in Brussels was postponed when Starmer was ousted; Brussels now hopes to hold it in November, though no date is confirmed.