Andy Burnham has said Britain should have an "honest discussion" about the possibility of a return to free movement with the European Union, in an interview with The Sunday Times released on Saturday night, four weeks before he meets EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.
The prime minister told the paper that migration during Britain's EU membership was a "revolving door" kind that differed from the migration of today, and called for a "very factual, quite evidence-based debate" on the subject.
No serving prime minister has publicly entertained a return to free movement since the 2016 referendum. Burnham has not proposed restoring it, and he has previously committed to the red lines of Labour's 2024 manifesto, which ruled out free movement, the single market and a customs union.
"Revolving door migration where people would come and then go back is different," he said, according to the PA news agency. "The balance of migration has changed, hasn't it, since then? I think we've just got to have an honest discussion about those things."
He acknowledged, in PA's account, that freedom of movement "had very significant challenges associated with it and I spoke about them in my previous time in parliament". He added: "I think you have to have a very factual, quite evidence-based debate about this."
Burnham said he could not imagine recommending that the UK join the Schengen borderless area or replace the pound with the euro, PA reported. He also referred to his father, Roy, who went to work in Germany in the 1990s.
The remarks sharpen a debate the prime minister opened within weeks of taking office in July. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 30 September that the options for Britain's relationship with Brussels ran from the status quo to full membership.
"We could stay as we are. That's definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay," he said. "We could look at what [former Chancellor] George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market, or we could go all the way."
In a statement to MPs this month he told the Commons that "sticking with the current status quo is not good enough for Britain", and said the summit would focus on growth and controlling illegal immigration. Items under discussion include a food and drink trade deal, linking energy systems, an emissions trading deal and a youth experience scheme.
The UK Mission to the EU has confirmed the summit will take place in Brussels on 20 November, where Burnham is expected to meet the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council president, António Costa.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, attacked the interview on social media on Saturday. "This is a total betrayal of Brexit Britain and his Makerfield pitch," he wrote. "He is also deluded to say immigration was different when we were members of the EU. We will fight this dishonesty."
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, also criticised the remarks. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said earlier this month that Burnham was "unpicking" the withdrawal agreement and would not secure a better deal.
Because of the manifesto commitments, any fundamental change to the UK's relationship with the EU would be likely to have to wait until after the next general election. Burnham told Labour's conference in September that he would set out "different options" later in the year to coincide with the summit.
Downing Street has not clarified whether free movement is among the options to be presented in November, and there has been no response from the European Commission.
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