What’s going on with Burnham and the EU talks? The PM said he would be ‘bolder‘ in a readout this morning:
“The UK had to be bolder in terms of getting closer to the bloc, the Prime Minister said. That included building on the close defence and security ties already forged between the UK and European Allies to drive greater cooperation across all areas of the relationship, he added.
The UK-EU summit set to be held later this year, would offer a platform to continue that work, the leaders agreed. Both looked forward to seeing one and another at the Coalition of the Willing later today.”
Questioned on the ‘bolder’ point, sources from the government insisted that in his final months Starmer also said Britain should be ‘bolder’ with the EU ‘reset’ and Burnham was simply ‘reiterating that ambition’ instead of changing the position of the last government. So according to this version – no change…
Contrast that to the end of last month when Hamish Falconer, the minister tasked with picking up Nick Thomas Symonds’ negotiations with the EU, said:
“Well, look, Nick and the previous Prime Minister did really important work to help reset relations and I want to consolidate some of that work. But we also need to see how we can go further. Even since when we started those talks, the world has changed quite dramatically. The threats have changed quite dramatically.
Both, we were talking about some of the threats in Eastern Europe, but clearly there are economic security threats, disinformation threats too. And I’ll be wanting to look at those issues in the round with my European counterparts.”
Burnham himself wants to rejoin eventually. Labour’s EU policy is to repeatedly smack itself in the face but from different and unpredictable angles…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”