Prime Minister Burnham criticizes current Brexit deal — The Guardian

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the country’s current arrangement with the European Union after Brexit is insufficient for Britons. At the same time, he stressed that he is not proposing the United Kingdom’s return to the EU during the current parliamentary term.

As The Guardian reports, Burnham believes that Brexit was harsher than what had been proposed during the campaign before the referendum. According to him, leaving the EU weakened the British economy and did not deliver the expected control over immigration.

A return to the EU is not being proposed

In an interview with Good Morning Britain, Burnham said that he would like to see Britain return to the European Union during his lifetime, but that the decision, in his view, should be made by society. He emphasized that he does not intend to impose his own position on voters or hold a new referendum.

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The prime minister also said that the government would not move away from the key provisions of the Labour Party’s election manifesto. Instead, he proposes practical steps to improve the current relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU.

Immigration and the EU summit

Burnham linked the weakening of border control to the fact that Britain can no longer return people to European countries in the way it did previously. He said that the crisis of small-boat crossings of the English Channel intensified after Brexit.

The prime minister expressed hope that the UK-EU summit on November 20 would make it possible to reach an agreement beneficial to British food producers, who, he said, have been significantly affected by Brexit. Burnham also supported the principle of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plan, under which foreign workers will have to wait 15 years to obtain permanent resident status.