The Tories have vowed to reverse any moves by Andy Burnham to unwind Brexit – as Labour’s Remainer push gathers pace.
Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart said the Government’s ambition for a ‘reset’ with the EU amounts to ‘giving everything away’.
The intervention came after the PM used his conference speech last week to reopen the Brexit debate, suggesting Labour could even support rejoining the bloc in full at the next election.
As Manchester mayor Mr Burnham backed the UK becoming a member again, but he had insisted while trying to oust Keir Starmer that he would not pursue the idea.
Pro-EU Labour figures have gleefully seized on the shift, with London Mayor Lord Khan urging closer ties immediately.
And former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon boasted this morning that Mr Burnham had paved the way for a fresh independence referendum north of the border.
Appearing on Sky News, the ex-SNP leader argued that if the national vote on leaving the EU could be reassessed after a decade, the Scots decision could also be changed.
‘You can’t pick and choose when democracy applies,’ Ms Sturgeon said.
Andy Burnham (pictured with Ursula von der Leyen) used his conference speech last week to reopen the Brexit debate, suggesting Labour could even support rejoining the bloc in full at the next election
EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Mr Burnham are due to hold a summit later this year, with fears Brussels will demand big concessions on free movement and financial contributions in return for removing trade barriers.
In an interview with the Sunday Times as Tory conference kicked off in Birmingham, Mr Burghart said: ‘If one looks at what Starmer’s government did at the Lancaster House summit in May 2025, they opened their negotiations with the EU by giving everything away.’
Pressed if the Conservatives would reverse any steps Labour takes towards the EU, Mr Burghart replied: ‘Oh yeah, absolutely. I think the reset is really disastrous, actually.
‘They said, ”We would like to take your rules, we would like to pay for the privilege and we would like your court (the European Court of Justice) to adjudicate on whether we have followed the rules and we would like to give you access to our fishing water for 12 years.”
‘It was extraordinary. And in return, they got almost nothing.’
Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart said the Government’s ambition for a ‘reset’ with the EU amounts to ‘giving everything away’
Ms Sturgeon said he hoped Mr Burnham ‘nails his colours to the mast of rejoining the EU’.
‘People in a democracy do have the right to change their mind, and I hope people change their minds on Brexit,’ she said.
‘But if you believe that, you cannot say to the people of Scotland that you never, ever again have the chance to consider the independence question, particularly when parties supporting independence and another referendum keep winning elections in Scotland.’
Justice Secretary Alex Norris denied that Scottish independence question could also be revisited.
He told Sky News: ‘I wouldn’t link the two things.
‘One of those questions is about our forward-looking engagement with our European partners to get the best for the country.
‘That’s different to the question of of the union.
‘You’ve seen again what the Prime Minister said about that, we believe in the union and that we will safeguard it.
‘But I wouldn’t link the two particularly.’
He added: ‘I recall it being said that that was a generational debate on that day, and you know the answer was the answer.’