Key facts
- Burnham is set to say the Brexit deal has not worked and Britain lost more than it gained, per advance excerpts.
- Burnham wants an agreement at the November 20 Brussels summit on food and youth mobility, his office's excerpts say.
- Burnham is set to say any EU agreement must respect Labour's red lines on the customs union, single market and freedom of movement.
- Britain and the EU are expected to agree to cut border checks on food and agricultural products at the summit.
- The summit had been scheduled for July but was postponed when Starmer resigned.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set on Monday, November 16, to say he wants a difficult conversation about the "obvious truth" of Brexit's costs, aiming to reset Britain's relationship with the European Union ahead of a summit in Brussels this week, according to advance excerpts of a foreign policy speech released by his office.
"It's like the emperor's new clothes – where no one is prepared to say the obvious truth," Burnham is set to say, according to the excerpts. "Well, I say it as I see it. And to be frank, the emperor has nothing on. The Brexit we were given has not worked. We have lost more than we gained."
Burnham is aiming for an agreement at Friday's summit on areas such as food and youth mobility, which could help lower costs for consumers in the short term and ease some of the frictions caused by Britain's departure from the bloc in 2020. Britain and the EU are expected to agree to cut border checks on food and agricultural products and to arrangements allowing young people to live and work abroad more easily.
Burnham also is looking for a broader reassessment of the Brexit deal struck by the previous Conservative government, saying he wants a conversation about its legacy that others have avoided. His approach is a break from his predecessor Keir Starmer, who put red lines on not returning to the EU's customs union, single market or freedom of movement in Labour's 2024 manifesto. Burnham is set to say any agreement with the EU on Friday must respect those red lines, which bind Labour until the next election, due in 2029, while improving the Brexit deal and giving tangible improvements to people.
The summit had been scheduled for July but was postponed when Starmer resigned.