Andy Burnham is planning to bring us back into the EU in all but name. He hopes to negotiate a surrender deal to be signed, either in full or as a first stage, at a summit in October.
It confirms what many of us have always suspected – that Labour never really accepted the result of the 2016 referendum, even if they sometimes pretended to. Rather than making the most of the UK’s Brexit freedoms, they would rather turn back the clock.
The plan was revealed by Hamish Falconer, the new Cabinet minister in charge of “reset” talks with the EU. He told The Guardian newspaper that Labour remained committed to pledges made in the 2024 General Election manifesto, which included no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement.
That may sound reassuring. But he added that there was “room to be ambitious” within those red lines, and he would look at the “art of the possible”.
He said: “I would want a deeper relationship, a more ambitious relationship with the EU.”
The message here is that he will stick to the letter of the manifesto but stretch the “red lines” as far as he possibly can.
And we have some idea what that means in practice.
Labour says it will not bring back freedom of movement, but it wants to introduce a “youth mobility scheme”, allowing younger people – probably anyone under 30 once the details are agreed – to live and work in the UK or EU without restriction.
He also spoke about greater integration of services, allowing firms to operate with few or no restrictions across the EU and the UK. This would be on top of planned deals on food and energy, which, in practice, will require the UK to accept EU rules.
What he didn’t talk about, but we know is coming, is the price the UK would be ordered to pay. As well as obeying EU regulations, we would have to contribute to EU funds designed to help develop the poorest regions of Europe, in return for access to EU markets. This will cost hundreds of millions of pounds, and the price could run into billions.
Mr Burnham said last year: “I hope in my lifetime I see this country rejoin the European Union.”
For now, he’s not talking about going as far as that. But it’s clear that Mr Burnham intends to go as far as he dares in reversing Brexit, with Mr Falconer heading his negotiating team in the run-up to October’s summit.