‘Have a little humility’: Andy Burnham roasts Kemi Badenoch over Brexit row

Prime Minister Andy Burnham took apart Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs this week, after he told her to have a ‘little humility’ over the Conservative Party’s Brexit deal which has left Britain poorer and cut-off from its larging trading partner.

Burnham has made no secret of his desire to negotiate a new deal with the EU to bring Britain closer to the European bloc, telling Labour Party conference that Brexit had done ‘more harm than good’.

The Prime Minister has maintained that the government will stick to the 2024 Labour manifesto commitments, which rule out rejoining the single market and the customs union, however he has also said that he would personally like to see the UK rejoin the EU during his lifetime.

Speaking during PMQs, the Tory leader criticised Burnham for suggesting the UK could agree to freedom of movement with the EU in his quest to forge closer ties with the trade bloc.

However, Burnham returned fire on the Tory leader, saying that in January 2025, Badenoch herself admitted it was a “mistake for the Conservative Party to leave the European Union before we had a plan for growth outside the EU”.

He added: “She may as well have said it was a mistake to leave the EU without a plan in place to control migration.

“Because that is what led to the Boris-wave during the government that she was in moved away from revolving door migration to long-term settlement.”

“Let’s have a little humility from the benches opposite that left Britain with low growth and migration out of control,” he added.

As the pair continued to clash over Brexit, Burnham reminded Badenoch that she has previously refused to say if she really thinks the EU exit deal improved the UK.

Badenoch insisted that it did, adding: “He is using those freedoms today, but he doesn’t want to admit that.”

She added that the country was “paralysed and miserable” during the Brexit wars, and claimed: “Does the Prime Minister really think the country wants to reopen that debate?”

Burnham replied: “Now she is speaking the truth. The country was paralysed by the party opposite. Low growth, insufficient control on migration, that is what this side of the House is dealing with.”