Former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock has said Andy Burnham will be the man to reverse Brexit and take he UK back into the European Union.
In recent weeks, there has been much discussion about the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU.
Andy Burnham has been highly critical of Brexit and has said he will consider all options as part of his 10-year plan for Britain.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, the prime minister called for “deeper cooperation” with the EU to help drive economic growth in the UK, and said it was an “immediate priority” for him to secure a successful outcome at the EU-UK summit next month.
Now, Lord Kinnock has said he believes Burnham ultimately wants to take Britain back into the EU.
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“Andy makes the declaration of his determination to change the relationship, and it’s obvious that his objective is to join again,” he told Italian newspaper la Repubblica.
“I mean, there can’t be any rejoining because the place that was there in 2016 doesn’t exist any longer. So it means, in many ways, starting almost from scratch, although not quite because so many of our regulations and practices and conventions adhere to European standards naturally after nearly 50 years in.
“So we’re not quite starting from scratch, but we’ve got to build with it.”
When asked of he thinks Burnham will be the ‘man to take the UK back into the EU’, Lord Kinnock said: “Yes, sure, sure, sure.”
He added: “His commitment is authentic. He really does understand from the grassroots up why restoring what I think of as normality in our continent is vital for every party economically, politically, culturally, all in security terms, and is able to articulate it in language that people can understand.
“So yeah, he is definitely”.
Last month, during his Labour conference speech, Burnham said Brexit had caused “more harm than good” and he would look for a new consensus on what Britain’s relationship with the EU should be.
This was followed by the prime minister confirming that potentially rejoining the EU is an option he and his government will consider.
Away from Westminster, public opinion has completely shifted on Brexit as the irrefutable evidence of the harm it has caused to the country mounts up.
Along with all this, European governments are urging the UK to return to the bloc as the global picture grows increasingly unstable in a world with Donald Trump as US president.