David Cameron has urged Andy Burnham not to pursue the UK’s return to the European Union, while telling the Prime Minister to stop attributing Britain’s economic difficulties to Brexit.
In a significant intervention ahead of Mr Burnham’s planned discussions with European leaders, Lord Cameron cautioned against reopening what he described as a “painful argument” over EU membership.
The former Conservative prime minister’s time in office was derailed by his defeat in the 2016 EU referendum, in which he had campaigned for Britain to remain in the bloc.
He acknowledged that he was “desperately disappointed” when voters rejected his appeal to stay in the EU and backed Brexit instead.
However, he said he was “a believer in democracy” and argued that the UK should remain outside the EU while seeking to be the bloc’s “best friends”.
Lord Cameron, who made a surprise return to frontline politics as foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government, also dismissed suggestions that Britain should rejoin the EU’s customs union.
He said that would not be the “right answer” as Mr Burnham prepares to present several possible options for Britain’s long-term relationship with the bloc.
“If you look at the economic problems we have today, I don’t really think they’ve got anything to do with Brexit at all,” Lord Cameron told Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain.
David Cameron has warned Andy Burnham against rejoining the EU and reopening a “painful” debate
Mr Burnham has previously said he would like to see the UK rejoin the EU during his lifetime and is expected to outline “different options” for voters after a summit with European leaders
Mr Burnham is due to meet European leaders at a gathering of the European Political Community in Dublin on Thursday.
He is also expected to finalise his Brexit “reset” agreement with EU leaders at a summit in Brussels next week.
The Prime Minister is preparing to approve a series of agreements covering food and drink, emissions trading and a “youth experience scheme”.
He has said the summit will also be used to “set up a serious dialogue” on the UK’s longer-term relationship with the EU, arguing that “sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain”.
Mr Burnham, who has previously expressed a desire for Britain to rejoin the EU within his lifetime, has said he will soon put “different options” before voters.
Lord Cameron, however, urged the Prime Minister to stop “flirting with rejoining”, warning that such talk could undermine negotiations with Brussels over the UK’s existing relationship with the bloc.
“Today, instead of launching an argument about rejoining, which I think would be a very long and painful argument, and who knows where it would end up, instead of that, focus on how do we be the best friend, best neighbour, best partner,” he said.
“If you start endlessly producing this idea that we’re actually on a path to rejoining, I think you’re in danger of getting a less good partnership deal because of course the EU countries will just think, ‘Well, these guys are gonna rejoin anyway, so what’s the point in giving them a good partnership deal’.”
“If you’re not going to, you know, commit to trying to make the partnership stronger because you’re flirting with rejoining, I think there’s some dangers there.”
Lord Cameron was accused of running a “Project Fear” campaign during the referendum, when he and his then-chancellor George Osborne warned that Brexit could put the UK economy in “serious danger”.
Yet, 10 years after the Brexit vote, the former prime minister said Britain’s present economic problems could not be blamed on the decision to leave the EU.
“If you look at the economic problems we have today, I don’t really think they’ve got anything to do with Brexit at all,” he said.
“I mean, our economic problems are we are overspending, over-borrowing, over-taxing, over-regulated and far too much [is] being spent on working age welfare.
“Those are a set of problems that have nothing to do with Brexit.
“We need a government that actually gets spending under control, gets taxes down, helps entrepreneurs, deals with our borrowing problem, reforms the welfare, and massively deregulates so we can build houses, build infrastructure.
“None of those have got anything to do with Europe.”
Lord Cameron added: “Do we really want to go into another decade-long debate about whether we should be in or out, when actually we should deal with our own problems while making the partnership model work?
“I fought the campaign to stay in on an amended basis, and I obviously wanted to win that campaign. I was desperately disappointed that we lost that campaign.
“But I’m a democrat, a believer in democracy. We voted to leave, and I think the right thing now is to try and become, you know, not just neighbours, partners, and friends of the EU, but the best friends, the best neighbours, the best partners.
“And I think we can make that work.”