Full re-entry into EU is an option for U.K., says PM Burnham

LONDON

The U.K. rejoining the European Union (EU) was an option for the country, British Prime Minister Andy Bunrham said on Wednesday, a day after he told the Labour party conference in Liverpool that the country had to decide on the kind of long-term ties it wanted with the bloc.

The Prime Minister had said that Brexit had “caused more harm than good” yesterday in Liverpool. The question of reversing Brexit, Britain’s departure from the bloc in 2016, would likely be a deeply divisive process as Brexit itself was.

“We could stay as we are…if people think this is the right place to stay,” Mr. Burnham told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday. 

Other options would include looking at a customs union as suggested by former Conservative Chanceler George Osbone, or entering the Single Market (area for free movement of goods, services, people and capital) as suggested by the Liberal Democrats, Mr Burnham said.

“…Or we could go all the way,” he said, suggesting the U.K. could become part of the E.U. again.

The options would have to be weighed as per their pros and cons, Mr. Burnham said.

Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham had said he was not looking to take the country back into the bloc but had said he hoped the return to the E.U. would happen during his lifetime.

Under his predecessor, Keir Starmer’s administration, the U.K. was in the process of strengthening ties with the E.U. , its largest trading partner. The Starmer government had launched a new ‘U.K.-EU Strategic Partnership’ which sought greater collaboration on defence, security, youth mobility and agriculture among other sectors.