Andy Burnham eyes EU reset as PM claims new Brexit deal could deliver 'what voters wanted in 2016'

Andy Burnham has said a deal with the EU could deliver what "people thought they were voting for in 2016".

The Prime Minister, speaking to reporters at the European Political Community summit in Ireland, said a "win-win" deal with the bloc could be made.

Mr Burnham will meet EU leaders in Brussels next week and sign agreements on food and farming, emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme, which he says will raise GDP by 0.4 per cent.

He said: "I believe there is a good deal to be done that could be a win-win for Britain and Europe. I think it actually could be more like the Brexit that people thought they were voting for in 2016.

"I don't think people thought they were going to get a Brexit as hard as the one that finally came through at the end of 2019."

He added that there was more to negotiate, but the Prime Minister believes the end agreement could be "closer to what people voted for at the referendum."

Asked if his move to reopen debate on the UK-EU relationship had helped or hindered negotiations, Mr Burnham said: “I think it has helped, but there’s a long way to go."

He said he would "fight now, over the days to come, to make sure we get this deal over the line".

FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…

'It's NOT working!' Luke Pollard slammed in GB News grilling over Piddington approval

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been grilled on GB News over Labour's decision to approve the asylum accommodation site at MoD Bicester.

GB News host Anne Diamond pressed the minister on referring to asylum hotels "five times" during his defence of the decision.

Mr Pollard told the People's Channel: "I think during this period there will be communities that have asylum accommodation on their doorstep. That will be a concern and that's why the Home Office is engaging with those communities.

"I recognise there will be some people who won't want that at all in their community, but there will be others for whom their mitigations will be appropriate for that community, and that is the engagement the Government is taking.

"But it's not an easy decision, there's no magic wand. The last Government couldn't solve the problem with half the number of hotels."

'You're WRONG!' Prime Minister hits back at Lord Cameron

Andy Burnham has hit back at David Cameron after the former Conservative prime minister and arch-remainer advised Labour against starting a "decade-long debate" over whether to rejoin the European Union.

The Tory peer, who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum and resigned within hours of Leave's victory, warned Mr Burnham against "a long and painful argument" about rejoining the bloc and said the UK’s economic problems had “nothing to do with Brexit".

But Mr Burnham hit back, telling reporters: "I think he is wrong to say that the low growth that we've had over the last decade has quote 'nothing to do with Brexit'. I would say the evidence says otherwise, and indeed the Treasury analysis says otherwise."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Andy Burnham under pressure as 100 Labour MPs want to start drilling Rosebank

As many as 100 Labour MPs want Andy Burnham to allow the start of production from the Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea, a leading Labour MP has told GB News.

Steve Yemm, MP for Mansfield since 2024 and chairman of a cross-party group calling for a "sensible, worker-first approach to North Sea oil and gas", disclosed the strength of feeling among Labour MPs who want drilling to start.

There are already reports of a split with Chancellor John Healey and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds keen for drilling to start against opposition from Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

The remarks to Chopper's Political Podcast lay bare the pressure the Prime Minister is under from his own backbenchers to deliver the "pragmatic" approach towards drilling in the North Sea which he promised US President Donald Trump in September.

Mr Yemm told GB News there was "strong support" for drilling and "support for British jobs, British workers and our own efforts in the North Sea".

READ THE STORY FROM CHOPPER'S POLITICAL PODCAST HERE

Britain to 'adopt EU law every 12 hours' under Brexit reset deal

Britain will adopt new EU regulation every 12 hours under Andy Burnham's Brexit reset, a Lords' committee has warned.

The Prime Minister, after jetting off to meet Ursula von der Leyen in Dublin, will again meet with EU leaders in Brussels next week to sign his Brexit reset agreement, which he claims could raise GDP by 0.4 per cent.

But a new report from the House of Lords European Affairs Committee warns that this shift in relations would require dynamic realignment and could leave the UK swamped with new EU regulation.

A deal on farming alone could result in at least 780 pieces of in-scope EU law every year - or the equivalent of two new regulations a day, the committee warned.

Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, said Britain would "become a 'rule-taker' again; and all because Labour are obsessed with rejoining the EU".

And Esther McVey, the former Tory Minister, said Mr Burnham's "Brexit betrayal" would force small businesses to "follow pointless bureaucratic regulations".

READ THE FULL STORY HERE