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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said rejoining the European Union is among the options that could be considered as the U.K. determines its long-term relationship with the bloc, arguing that Brexit has done “more harm than good.”
Speaking in an interview broadcast Wednesday on BBC Radio’s Today Programme, Burnham said Britain could consider joining the EU single market and customs union or potentially “go all the way.”
“So there are clearly options that need to be considered, and we have to look at what is doable, and what would be the pros and cons of each,” he said.
Burnham, who campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU, has previously said he hoped the country would return to the 27-member bloc within his lifetime.
Burnham’s remarks followed his speech Tuesday at the annual Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, where he said he would present different options for Britain’s future relationship with the EU ahead of a planned summit with the bloc later this year.
He said Brexit had triggered “a decade of low growth which has put us in a weaker position.”
“We will not give Britain the clear path we need into the rest of this century until we decide on a long-term relationship with what is still our largest market,” Burnham said.
Britain voted to leave the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum, when about 52% of voters backed leaving. The U.K. formally left the bloc in 2020.
A U.K.-EU summit had originally been planned for July in Brussels but was disrupted after former Prime Minister Keir Starmer was removed as Labour leader and replaced by Burnham, who became prime minister in July.
The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Nov. 20 had been penciled in as a new date for the summit, although it has not been confirmed.
The two sides had been preparing several potential agreements for the meeting, including deals on food and animal safety standards, a youth mobility scheme and linking their emissions-trading systems.
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