Sir Keir Starmer has raised the prospect of the UK rejoining the EU “years down the line”, in what has been seen as a threat to undermine Andy Burnham’s stance on Brexit.
The prime minister and Downing Street have been accused by allies of the Greater Manchester mayor of sabotaging his campaign, after they refused to rule out the prospect of a Labour pledge to rejoin the union.
Mr Burnham has attempted to distance himself from his previous Remain stance and his desire to reverse the 2016 referendum, given that he is standing in the Makerfield by-election, a constituency that voted Leave.
It was also revealed in The Independent that Labour MPs have been told by allies of Sir Keir that Mr Burnham could bring back former leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was expelled in 2024 in a row over antisemitism.
New polling of Labour members has shown that Mr Burnham would beat the prime minister in a leadership contest, despite Sir Keir’s pledge he will not “walk away” and set a timetable for his departure.
Mr Burnham said that what has been offered by Labour “has simply not been good enough”, as he criticised the last 40 years of British politics.
