Andy Burnham’s campaign to revisit Brexit plunged further into uncertainty today after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that restoring free movement would raise “significant issues”.
Ms Mahmood appeared to signal unease over any return to open-border arrangements, despite the Prime Minister instructing ministers to keep their positions on the issue private.
At the same time, Mr Burnham risked adding to the confusion by stressing that he was not yet “proposing” a return to freedom of movement.
Instead, he said he wanted an “honest discussion” about the way Brexit had replaced shorter-term European migration with higher levels of “long-term settlement”.
Speaking after unveiling watered-down immigration measures last night, Ms Mahmood was asked about Mr Burnham’s decision to open a debate on rejoining the EU and accepting free movement.
“What I am keen on is abiding by our manifesto,” she told Sky News.
Shabana Mahmood appeared to signal concerns about restoring open-border rules, despite the Prime Minister telling ministers to keep their views private
Mr Burnham risked fuelling the confusion by insisting that he is not yet “proposing” a return to freedom of movement
She added: “The Prime Minister has himself recognised that there were significant issues with the free movement of people, and that should also be part of the debate that we’re going to have as a country about our Brexit settlement and what we do for the future.”
Asked whether she agreed with Mr Burnham’s view that rejoining the EU could give Britain greater control over migration, Ms Mahmood pointed to the loss of access to EU-wide databases. She said this had “had a very significant impact on us and our ability to manage migration into this country”.
In a separate interview with ITV, Mr Burnham said: “I have not proposed freedom of movement coming back.”
He continued: “I do believe that we should have an honest discussion with people about how immigration has changed since the Brexit vote because the shorter term migration of people coming from Europe and then going back has been replaced with long term settlement in bigger numbers, and that was the Boriswave.”
According to Mr Burnham, that shift had “led to more illegal migration because we can’t share data anymore” with European partners.
Mr Burnham fought a by-election in Leave-voting Makerfield, a contest that helped propel him towards No 10 after he promised not to “re-run” the Brexit debate. He said conversations during the campaign had convinced him that attitudes in the constituency had changed in the decade since the 2016 referendum.
“I think public opinion has changed nationally,” he said.
“But I want to be really clear on this issue. I will not run ahead of public opinion. The public need to be the boss when it comes to whatever happens with Brexit.”
The Prime Minister’s call for an “honest discussion” about potentially restoring freedom of movement has triggered turmoil within Labour ranks.
The uncertainty deepened when Mr Burnham was asked how any change to Labour’s manifesto red lines— which rule out rejoining the customs union and single market—would be presented to voters.
He initially said Labour would not change its position during the current Parliament, while suggesting he could contest the next general election on a pledge to take the UK back into the EU.
However, in another interview he answered “no” when asked whether he would permit the UK to restore EU freedom of movement without holding a referendum.
That forced Downing Street to clarify that he was ‘not leaning either way’ on how to move forward or whether there needed to be a national vote.
In a letter to the Cabinet, Mr Burnham warned ministers against publicly advocating for any specific outcome after the EU-UK summit later this month.
‘In the period beyond the summit, Government policy will be to explore options for the long-term relationship with the EU for consideration in the next Parliament,’ he said.
‘At the end of this process, we will set out to the country the respective merits and drawbacks of the various options.
‘It is important that we remain aligned and disciplined as a Government in our messaging throughout this period.
‘It will not be appropriate for ministers individually to advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process.’
Asked this morning whether she wanted to see free movement, asylum minister Anna Turley told Sky: ‘My priority is sorting out the system that we’ve got, getting young people in my constituency into work, making sure we’ve got an immigration system that is not chaotic, that is controlled, that we stop the illegal migration through small boats, that we get a grip on removals.’
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