What have Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting said about rejoining the EU?
The Labour leadership crisis has pushed the UK’s relationship with the EU back into the spotlight
Labour leadership contender Wes Streeting has put the UK’s relationship with the European Union back into the spotlight, saying Brexit was a “catastrophic mistake” and the UK should “one day” rejoin the bloc.
Andy Burnham, who is the most popular Labour figure among party members and voters and is expected to launch a leadership challenge if he wins the Makerfield by-election, has also said there may be a case for rejoining the EU “in the long-term”.
However, he sought to distance himself from the discussion about rejoining the EU, insisting he was “not advocating that in this by-election”.
Last year, the Greater Manchester mayor said “I hope in my lifetime I see this country rejoin the European Union.”
In a speech on Saturday, Streeting, who declared that he will stand if a leadership challenge against Starmer is launched, said that “leaving the European Union was a catastrophic mistake”.
“It’s left us less wealthy, less powerful and less in control than at any point before the industrial revolution.”
“We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe, and one day, one day, back in the European Union,” he added.
In the 2016 Brexit referendum, in Makerfield, 66% of voters backed Brexit in the vote.
In the recent local elections, Reform won 24 out of 25 contested council seats in Wigan, the borough that covers Makerfield.
Nigel Farage has already signalled that he will centre the Makerfield by-election campaign around Brexit, and has already claimed that Labour’s leadership contenders are “preparing to completely betray Brexit voters”.
In a targeted dig at Burnham, Farage told The Express: “It is increasingly obvious that Andy Burnham wants to say one thing to Labour voters in the constituency while telling Labour MPs something entirely different as he positions himself for power.
“Voters are not fools and they deserve honesty from open-borders Burnham.”
On Friday, Burnham was cleared by Labour’s National Executive Committee to stand in the Makerfield by-election, after the constituency’s current MP Josh Simons said he would vacate it to free up a seat for the Manchester mayor.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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