Neil Kinnock says Andy Burnham will be the man to take Britain back into the EU

Former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock has said that Andy Burnham will be the man to take Britain back into the EU, as public opinion continues to turn against the decision to leave.

Burnham has made no secret of his desire to seek a closer relationship with the EU, telling Labour Party conference that Brexit had caused ‘more harm than good’.

He also told Parliament on Monday that he will push for new post-Brexit deals with the EU at a summit next month, adding that “deeper cooperation” on some key issues – including youth mobility, food and drink, and energy – would help drive economic growth in the UK.

Kinnock believes Burnham is keen to rejoin the EU.

“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.”

It comes as opinion polls show that there is now a majority in favour of re-joining the EU, with a recent YouGov poll finding that 52% of Brits would opt for Britain to rejoin the EU if another referendum were held.