Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has insisted Andy Burnham will bring Britain back into the EU after the prime minister hinted at a fresh referendum.
On Monday, Mr Burnham vowed to use a key UK-EU summit in Brussels next month to push for a Brexit reset aimed at improving relations with the bloc with a focus on growth, immigration and security.
Calling on MPs to rethink Brexit in order to secure a deal with Brussels, Mr Burnham said it would be a “dereliction of duty” to ignore an opportunity to seek a new deal with the EU.
Lord Kinnock said Mr Burnham’s commitment to rejoining the EU is “authentic”, and insisted the prime minister has “always been a committed pro-European”.
“Andy makes the declaration of his determination to change the relationship, and it's obvious that his objective is to join again,” he told Italian newspaper la Repubblica.
“I mean, there can't be any rejoining because the place that was there in 2016 doesn't exist any longer. So it means, in many ways, starting almost from scratch, although not quite because so many of our regulations and practices and conventions adhere to European standards naturally after nearly 50 years in.
“So we're not quite starting from scratch, but we've got to build with it.”
The former Labour leader also insisted Mr Burnham has “not changed direction” since the Makerfield by-election, where he promised not to “re-run” Brexit arguments.
“He's always been a committed pro-European. In the by-election, he rightly didn't make a noise about it,” Lord Kinnock said.
“That's tomorrow's debate. Simply because the by-election wasn't about Europe. It was about winning Makerfield in order to enable him to become leader of the party. That's all it was about.”
In a statement to parliament on Monday, the prime minister said he would use a key UK-EU summit in Brussels next month to push for a Brexit reset aimed at improving relations with the bloc with a focus on growth, immigration and security.
He warned MPs that “sticking with the status quo is not good enough” while insisting that the “public backs my pragmatic approach”.
Calling on MPs to rethink Brexit in order to secure a deal with Brussels, Mr Burnham said it would be a “dereliction of duty” to ignore an opportunity to seek a new deal with the EU.
When asked if he would honour the 2016 referendum outcome, the prime minister said he would be prepared to “set out options that I think... Britain should consider”.
Over the summer, Lord Kinnock told The Independent that rejoining the EU is the “only patriotic thing to do” for Britain, and argued that anyone who truly loves Britain should back rejoining the bloc.
He said: “The only patriotic thing to do is to get us back into the European Union – it’s as raw and as basic as that.
“If you love your country, and the people who live under the flag – and not just saluting the flag – then you will want to get us back into the European Union.”
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