Both the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Border Security Minister Anna Turley have in the last 24 hours refused to back Andy Burnham’s quiet campaign to resurrect EU freedom of movement. A wide open split at the top of government; collective responsibility is optional these days…
Last night Mahmood told Sam Coates:
“What I am keen on is abiding by our manifesto… I have views which are a matter of public record… you can go and read and have trawl through what I think.”
She even said she didn’t want to “indulge” questions about it. Does this include at the Cabinet table?
This morning Anna Turley said similarly:
“My priority is sorting out the system we’ve got… We’ve been very clear in manifesto we won’t be having free movement in this country.”
Yet the rejoiners in Labour really want to fight these battles all over again…
Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked John Healey: “Just finally, I mean Andy Burnham has been very clear he wants Britain back in the European Union in his lifetime. Do you?”
The Chancellor replied: “I’m older than Andy Burnham. I don’t expect to see that.”