Burnham open to EU free movement, Sunday Times reports

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has opened the door to Britain readopting the European Union’s free movement rules, the Sunday Times reported on Saturday, in interviews marking his first 100 days in office.

Burnham told the newspaper immigration since Brexit had been “different”, with more people moving permanently rather than returning home. “I think you have to have a very factual, quite evidence-based debate about this,” he said, making clear staying out of free movement would not be a red line for talks.

He cited his father Roy, who used EU rules in the 1990s to work in Germany. The Times noted annual net migration rose to 330,000 before the 2016 referendum, then hit a record high of more than 900,000 after Britain left the EU in January 2020.

Burnham acknowledged free movement “had very significant challenges”, but said the earlier “revolving door” pattern was different: “The balance of migration has changed, hasn’t it, since then? I think we’ve just got to have an honest discussion about those things.”

The comments cut across Labour’s 2024 manifesto red lines, which ruled out free movement, single market membership or a customs union — suggesting any fundamental change would likely have to wait until after a general election, expected by 2029. Burnham meets EU chiefs at a Brussels summit on 20 November, where he plans to lay out options.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the comments “a total betrayal of Brexit Britain”; shadow home secretary Chris Philp said “there can be no return to it”.

Sources: Reuters, The Sunday Times, PA via Glasgow Times.