Burnham to push for new post-Brexit deals at EU summit
Burnham Sets Out Case for Fresh UK-EU Agreements Ahead of November Summit
Ninoda.com – Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told Parliament he will seek a new set of practical agreements with the European Union at a summit next month, arguing that closer cooperation could support growth while keeping Labour’s existing Brexit commitments intact.
The government intends to pursue arrangements covering youth mobility, food and drink trade, energy and immigration coordination. Burnham said these measures could reduce friction for businesses and strengthen economic links without returning the UK to the EU single market, customs union or free movement rules.
“Deeper cooperation” on key issues would help to drive economic growth in the UK.
Burnham said Labour’s manifesto pledges on those major Brexit questions would remain in force until the next general election. At the same time, he indicated that Britain should be prepared to hold a broader discussion about its future relationship with the EU after the November meeting.
“The immediate priority” is securing a successful outcome at the November summit. “I believe we should then set up a serious dialogue about the different options for our relationship in the long term.”
He added that voters would ultimately decide the direction of travel, saying public opinion currently favoured a pragmatic approach.
Food trade and border delays
Food exports are expected to be a central part of the proposed package. Burnham argued that paperwork, inspections and administrative errors have created costly delays for British producers since the UK left the EU’s trading structures.
He said a single absent stamp or a minor document problem can lead to entire consignments of plants or fresh produce being destroyed. Perishable products including meat and fish may spoil while vehicles wait at borders, leaving exporters to absorb the losses.
“Fresh meat and fish spoil while waiting in trucks, and tonnes of exports have to be written off.”
Scottish salmon, Britain’s largest food export, is subject to document checks on every shipment at the border, Burnham said. He put the cost of lost exports at about £100m. He also highlighted restrictions affecting British burgers and other fresh meat products, Scottish seed potatoes and Welsh shellfish.
The prime minister said an agreement under discussion could undo part of that disruption. For readers and businesses, the practical issue is not simply the broad political argument over Brexit: it is whether goods can move across borders quickly enough to remain saleable and competitive.
Burnham said the combined economic effect of agreements on food, energy and related areas could be worth the equivalent of £10bn annually by 2040. He described it as a failure of responsibility to reject opportunities to remove unnecessary bureaucracy.
Concerns over European industrial policy
Alongside his push for new agreements, Burnham warned that the EU’s proposed Made In Europe plans could create difficulties for British manufacturing. The measures are designed to shield European industry from Chinese competition, but their structure could affect UK companies and supply chains connected to the continent.
He told MPs that discussions were under way to secure an arrangement suitable for Britain. Manufacturing supply chains often cross national borders several times before a final product is sold, meaning changes to procurement rules or preference schemes can have consequences beyond the firms directly covered by them.
Energy trading is also on the agenda. Greater cooperation in this area could matter for businesses and households because energy markets, infrastructure and cross-border supply arrangements remain closely connected despite the UK’s departure from the EU.
Conservative criticism and Liberal Democrat pressure
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Burnham of reopening an issue that had already been settled through the UK’s agreement with the EU. She argued that he had weakened his own negotiating position by publicly setting out what he wanted before the summit.
“He is not going to get a better deal. The EU are tough negotiators, and it’s not just that the EU are tough negotiators, he has already revealed his entire negotiating hand.”
Badenoch said Burnham had previously argued that the country should not revisit the old Brexit disputes, but was now “unpicking the deal this country signed with the EU a decade after the referendum”.
Burnham responded with a jibe about the Conservative record in previous talks with European partners, challenging Badenoch’s criticism of his approach.
“She says that, oh, I’ve revealed what I want to do and this isn’t any way to negotiate it – because the Tories were so good, weren’t they, at negotiating deals with our partners?”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey took the opposite view, welcoming Burnham’s acknowledgement of what he called Brexit’s damage. He urged the government to abandon Labour’s red lines and begin talks on joining the single market and customs union.
Burnham has not adopted that position. While he has confirmed the current manifesto restrictions, he did not rule out the possibility of a future manifesto containing different proposals, including the prospect of rejoining the EU.
A summit focused on economic practicality
The November summit is likely to test whether both sides can identify areas where cooperation is politically achievable and economically useful. Immigration coordination, trade in food and drink, and energy arrangements offer tangible areas for discussion, but they also sit within a wider argument about how closely Britain should work with the EU in the years ahead.
For now, Burnham’s position is that the government can seek targeted improvements without reversing the central choices set out in Labour’s manifesto. His political challenge will be to show that these deals can deliver visible benefits while persuading critics that they do not amount to a gradual return to the pre-Brexit relationship.
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