Farage urged Brexiteers to not let Labour sell out Brexit (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham was warned today that voters won’t let him get away with “selling out” on Brexit. It comes after the European Union delayed “reset” talks with the Government – because Brussels would rather wait until Mr Burnham has taken over from outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Eurocrats are said to believe they will get an even better deal from Mr Burnham, after the former Mayor said he wants to see the UK return to the EU in his lifetime.
Nigel Farage led the fury last night, with the Reform UK leader warning Brexiteers not to let Labour get away with betraying the Leave vote. Writing exclusively in the Express, Mr Farage said: “The EU has postponed its big ‘reset’ summit with the UK, because they think new Labour prime minister Andy Burnham will be an even softer touch than Keir Starmer when it comes to finally selling out Brexit.”
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Insiders fear Mr Burnham could cave in to a string of Brussels demands, and hand the EU more concessions at Britain’s expense.
Sir Keir has been accused of selling off the UK’s fishing waters until 2038, and signing up to dozens of EU regulations without a vote of Parliament.
But the current Prime Minister is reported to have been holding up agreements because he would not budge on demands being made of the UK by Eurocrats. They included fees paid by students from Europe seeking to come to English universities under the costly Erasmus plus scheme.
Mr Burnham, widely tipped to walk into No10 after seizing the Makerfield constituency in a by-election last week, is regarded as an even more committed Remainer than the Sir Keir.
He backed staying in the European Union and said last year that he wanted the UK to rejoin. More recently, he said he did not want to “re-run” Brexit arguments but has not made it clear whether his personal view is still that the UK should rejoin.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Andy Burnham, like Keir Starmer, just wants to fight the battles of the past. Britain voted to leave the EU, now we must make the most of our freedoms.”
The Tory leader said she “ended the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain” when serving as business secretary in a previous Conservative government .
She added: “I will apply that same expertise to ensuring we leave the ECHR and get control over our borders. I also signed the biggest post-Brexit trade deal with the Trans-Pacific Partnership – a collection of the fastest growing countries in the Asia-Pacific – because I want Britain to reach out beyond Europe.”
Mrs Badenoch said: “There are so many opportunities available. We just need a government willing to seize them. Meanwhile Labour risks leaving us in the worst of both worlds.”
Burnham previously demanded the UK return to the bloc (Image: Getty)
Britain voted to leave the EU in the largest democratic vote in history, 10 years ago. The Express is now demanding that the government must ‘Give Us A Proper Brexit’, a campaign backed by both Reform UK and the Conservative Party.
The new crusade calls for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), cut Brussels red tape and impose a protected fishing zone around the coast to stop European fishermen plundering our waters.
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice told the Express that 10 years after the country’s historic vote to leave, some still wanted to reverse that choice.
He said: “Ten years ago the British people voted to leave the EU but to this day the political establishment on both sides of the Channel is still intent on overturning that result.”
Mr Tice slammed Sir Keir for beginning the process of “dragging Britain back into the grip of Brussels” and fumed that it was “increasingly clear that Andy Burnham will help seal the deal.”
The Reform grandee said that only his party was “committed to fully delivering Brexit and honouring the democratic decision made by millions of voters a decade ago.”
Veteran Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that more than 17 million people voted to leave the EU, telling the Express “under 25,000 voted for Burnham.”
“He has no mandate to take us back into the EU by stealth,” the former House of Commons leader added.
Former French Prime Minister Michael Barnier, who served as the EU’s Brexit negotiator, has declared the “door is open” to the UK returning to Brussels.
Speaking in London on the day Sir Keir stepped down, he said everyone “knows the rules of the game” as he signalled he felt it would be best for the UK to cosy up to the bloc.
Furious critics last night warned any attempt to rejoin would be a knife in the back of British democracy.
John Longworth, who chairs the Independent Business Network of family businesses, warned Mr Burnham against trying to return the UK to Brussels.
He said: “If Andy Burnham tries to take the U.K. into the EU he will be doomed. He had better educate himself as to what the single market and customs union means, they mean economic damage.”
Mr Longworth added: “The majority of people recognise this because when asked if they want to sign up to the EU rules, they say no. At last we have democratic self determination, it would be a fundamental attack on democracy to get closer to the EU without a referendum.”
Mr Burnham did not respond when approached by this newspaper.