Britain’s new prime minister has put EU membership back into the political conversation a decade after the Brexit referendum. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s suggestion that the UK could eventually rejoin the European Union marks a major change in the ruling Labour party’s rhetoric, but not yet in government policy, according to TVP World Europe Editor Marcin Zaborowski. Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister in July, said this week that Britain should consider a range of options for its future relationship with the EU, including membership of the single market, a customs union or potentially rejoining the bloc. He has stressed that another referendum is not imminent. Zaborowski told TVP World’s News in Depth program that Burnham’s remarks should be viewed partly in the context of the next general election, which is due by 2029. “It’s not a policy. It’s new rhetoric,” he said, describing it as “revolutionary in the British context.” Labour won the 2024 parliamentary election under Starmer on a manifesto that ruled out returning to the EU single market or customs union. Burnham therefore does not have an electoral mandate for such a reversal, Zaborowski argued. But public opinion has shifted since the 2016 Brexit referendum, when 52% voted to leave and 48% to remain. A YouGov poll conducted in June found 55% now supported rejoining the EU, compared with 34% who opposed it. Support fell significantly, however, when respondents were told Britain might have to return without its former opt-outs. The economic argument Zaborowski pointed to Brexit’s economic impact as one reason the debate has resurfaced, citing weaker investment, trade and productivity. The precise cost remains disputed and depends on estimates of what the British economy would have looked like without Brexit. The UK’s independent Office for Budget Responsibility currently assumes the post-Brexit trading relationship will leave long-run productivity about 4% lower than if Britain had remained in the EU, while reducing trade intensity by around 15%. Britain has already been moving closer to Brussels. Under Starmer, London and the EU agreed a broad reset covering security and trade, including a new defense and security partnership.
