In the past, the Prime Minister admitted he would like to rejoin the Brussels bloc. Now, in new talks, Mr Burnham has edged closer towards dishing out closer ties on matters spanning from education to defence and security.
During meetings with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, on an overnight train to Kyiv, the Prime Minister settled on closer ties across key policy areas.
After, a No10 spokesman confirmed the world leaders had “agreed on the important cultural and educational ties between the UK and Europe to deliver opportunity for the next generation of Brits and Europeans”.
The move risks fuelling fears that Mr Burnham could be willing to buckle to Brussels amid Labour’s “Brexit reset” and cut tuition fees for European students at British institutions.
At the same time, Mr Burnham met Antonio Costa, the European Council President, during his first international visit since becoming Prime Minister.
The Downing Street spokesman said: “Turning to the UK’s relationship with the European Union, the two leaders [Mr Burnham and Mr Costa] underlined the importance of being ambitious to drive a step change in relations.
“The UK had to be bolder in terms of getting closer to the bloc, the Prime Minister said. That included building on the close defence and security ties already forged between the UK and European allies to drive greater cooperation across all areas of the relationship.”
This Liveblog has now been closed.
Top Tory condemns Labour minister’s ‘jarring’ statement on A66 crash
The Shadow Justice Secretary has condemned a Labour minister for her “jarring” statement about the weekend’s A66 crash.
In a statement, Anna Turley, the Border Security and Asylum minister, said she wanted to “pay her respects to the seven people whose lives were tragically cut short” in the incident.
“I can’t be the only one for whom this statement jars,” Nick Timothy started.
“Two police officers – one an army veteran – were needlessly killed while on service. The five thugs who caused the crash – who killed PC Tom Clough and PC Matthew Blades – also died.
“These criminals, with many past offences between them, were driving illegally and irresponsibly the wrong way down an A road.
“We don’t want to speak ill of the dead, I understand that. But the tragedy is the loss of those two police officers. The five thugs who killed them were responsible not only for their own demise but for the deaths of two innocent men.
“We may live in an age of emoting, but we should be able to see the difference between right and wrong.
“And it doesn’t feel right for a Home Office minister to put two police officers on a par with the thugs who killed them.”
‘We make NO apology!’ Lee Anderson defends Reform plan to prioritise young Britons for social housing over foreign nationals
Lee Anderson declared Reform makes ‘no apology’ for their latest plan to evict foreign nationals from social housing
| GB NEWSLee Anderson has declared Reform UK will make “no apology” for the party’s latest policy announcement as he defended plans to remove foreign nationals from Britain’s council housing.
Speaking to GB News, Reform’s chairman argued that it is “not controversial” for a Government to “want to put British people first”.
The party unveiled fresh plans to overhaul the social housing system in the UK by favouring British-born youngsters over foreign nationals and asylum seekers.
Under the plans, British-born workers under 35 will be put “at the front of the queue”, with priority given to married couples with children in a bid to ease the difficulties of getting on the housing ladder.
Andy Burnham plays guitar for Ukraine soldier as PM insists music ‘lifts spirits’
Andy Burnham has shown off his guitar-playing skills for a Ukraine soldier as the Prime Minister insisted music “lifts spirits”.
Meanwhile, soldiers sang him an Oasis song.
During his visit, he visited shopping centre that had been destroyed in a Russian offensive, where he took selfies with residents.
‘Absolutely essential!’ Reform to evict foreign nationals from social housing with pledge to end rewards for claiming welfare
Reform UK has unveiled fresh plans to overhaul the UK’s social housing system by prioritising British-born youth over foreign nationals and asylum seekers.
Under these plans, British-born workers under the age of 35 will be “placed at the front of the queue”, with priority given to married couples with children in a bid to ease the difficulties of getting on the housing ladder.
The party claims priority will also be given to veterans, and social housing will be prioritised for British nationals who are in work, on the view that social housing should “not be a reward for welfare”.
Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, spoke in Westminster on the proposals, saying: “Our ambition is to stop the rot. We need to turn it around. And so from a construction point of view, a Reform Government will build an extra 50,000 affordable social homes every year for a decade.”
Hitting out at Labour’s pledge to build more homes, the Reform deputy leader said: “They’re missing all their targets by a country mile and the Labour Party, supposedly looking after workers, is actually doing exactly the opposite.
“They’re literally withdrawing from a Right to Buy programme. They’re making it so restrictive, almost nobody will buy it.”
Speaking on the Right to Buy scheme in the past, Mr Tice added: “It was a great success in the 80s and 90s, but the mistake was not building more.
“This plan is about building over a decade, another 500,000 affordable social homes. It’s the right thing to do.”
Proposals to give elected mayors powers to overrule councils on planning slammed for ‘taking powers away’
The Local Councils Network has responded to proposals to give elected mayors powers to overrule councils on planning.
In response, Cllr Richard Wright, Chair of the Local Councils Network, said: “Local planning authorities have an unrivalled knowledge of local communities which ensures new homes and crucial infrastructure are appropriate for their area and meet the genuine needs of local people. This expertise should not be dismissed lightly.
“Councils’ longstanding accountability for planning has empowered us to ensure development contributes to the creation of cohesive places which support growth, health and wellbeing, as well as being loved by local people.
“The weakening of this accountability has the potential to diminish local places and at the same time do little to increase the building of the high-quality homes that councils know their communities are crying out for.
“While we support the Government’s enthusiasm for devolution, we should be clear that devolution entails empowering people at a local level, rather than taking powers away from councils and giving them to more geographically distant bodies.”