By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-10-05 23:16:51 | Updated at 2026-10-06 00:09:07
1 hour ago
When the voters of Makerfield had a by-election foisted on them in order for Andy Burnham to get back into Parliament, the message they were given on Britain’s constitutional future was explicit. Campaigning in the traditional Northern constituency which had heavily supported leaving the EU a decade prior, Mr Burnham committed to moving on.
The Brexit Facts4EU think-tank, together with colleagues at Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK.Org), have looked at what the Prime Minister actually said between the Makerfield by-election, the Labour Conference, and his post-Conference BBC interview. We then contrast this with some surprising poll results which should make for interesting reading for the PM.
All of this has been shared exclusively with GB News.
Mr Burnham, in the run-up to Makerfield at the Great North Summit in May 2026, said "the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments. I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU".
He added: "I respect the decision that was made at the referendum and it is going to undermine everything I have said about strengthening democracy if we don't respect that vote."
But, three months after the by-election, at the Labour Party Conference on Sept 29, 2026, the PM about-turned: "I cannot say to you truthfully that where we are is good enough.
"Brexit has done more harm than good. So, I will take the opportunity around the summit to lay out to you… what I believe the different options are for Britain’s long-term relationship with our European partners."
A principle the Prime Minister set out strongly at the start of his speech was honesty with the public.
It is presently unclear how he can reconcile that principle with his betrayal on Brexit. Then it got worse. Apparently emboldened, the following day the Prime Minister did an interview on BBC Radio 4 and went further.
"We could look at what 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," he said.
Lord Redwood, former Single Market Minister and Secretary of State, told GB News that "playing student politics with EU membership damages jobs," can "lose investment," and "split the country."
"Mr Burnham changes his messages as his audiences change, creating uncertainty and undermining his claim to a new honest politics. He clearly despises the democratic view expressed in referendums, as he wants to overturn both the EU one and the Voting system one in 2011 where 68 per cent opposed change," he told the People's Channel.
"His attempted EU Re-Set would be a craven surrender to EU demands, whilst trying to rejoin would come with a huge unaffordable bill and more costly EU laws. If more laws and taxes brought growth and prosperity, we would have it by now. Getting closer to the EU means joining them in the slow growth lane of the world economy."
Andy Burnham's about-turns on re-joining the EU has caused confusion - and backlash - from commentators and politicians
REUTERS
The Brexit polling answers that never made the headlines
A great deal has been made of loosely-worded opinion polls on rejoining the EU. Rather less has been said about the real question Mr Burnham should be looking at.
The Prime Minister must know there is no hope the UK would be allowed to rejoin the EU with all the opt-outs it had while it was still a member. Most opinion polls do not ask the public their opinion if the terms of re-joining had changed significantly.
When asked a question based on this reality, the British public’s answer is emphatic.
Below are three of the results from a detailed and thorough opinion poll conducted by YouGov in the summer. These three questions – and the answers they evoked – did not make the news headlines. Perhaps this was because the public gave the "wrong answers".
These results are, however, fundamental to showing that when confronted by reality the British public is in fact against rejoining the EU.
Would you support rejoining on today’s terms, without all our opt-outs?
The public oppose Britain rejoining the EU, without the previous opt-outs
FACTS4EU.ORG
Should the idea of revisiting the whole question even be the government’s priority?
The British public had their say on whether any attempt to rejoin the EU within the next five years should be a priority
FACTS4EU.ORG
Looking at the regular Ipsos and YouGov polling, rejoining the EU does not make the top 10 when Britons are asked to name the "most important issues facing the country" right now.
Issues such as immigration, the NHS, the economy, the cost of living, and crime top the lists, but re-opening the Brexit debate just isn't there.
Finally, would being back in the EU make you better off?
Britons overwhelmingly think rejoining the EU would have at most no impact on household finances
FACTS4EU.ORG
It is often said that people vote in what they think are their own best financial interests. The answer to the final question highlighted below is therefore perhaps one which Mr Burnham may want to think about.
In all this uncertainty, it has become apparent that some of Mr Burnham’s own ministers do not agree with his apparent pivot back to EU subservience. Just before their conference, his Business Minister, Jonathan Reynolds, gave an inteview to The Telegraph.
The Business Secretary stated that business leaders had told him not to "return to the political uncertainty" but to "improve the relationship, exactly as we should do with any of our major trading partners, and at the same time, make the best of opportunities around the rest of the world".
He added: "I wouldn’t say all of our economic problems were solved by being in the European Union. I think you’ve got to look at the things that make the biggest difference. And I’m just absolutely certain what business wants and what the country needs is the direction we are currently on."
Just two days later his leader, Andy Burnham, publicly contradicted this at the conference.
Prior to Labour's Party Conference, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds warned that business leaders had told him not to 'return to the political uncertainty'
REUTERS
The rapid evolution in the Prime Minister's position has drawn intense criticism from opposition benches and commentators.
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage last week said: "It's extraordinary, isn't it?… Well, the idea that a referendum on the European Union will bring unity - it will bring the opposite: complete division.
"Any closer relationship, let alone rejoining the European Union, would hand powers back in the other way to an unaccountable organisation by which we couldn't change a single law they make.
"So I find the whole thing hypocritical."
If our new, popularity-seeking Prime Minister thought he was onto a vote-winner with his new policy of opening up the whole Brexit debate, our report today shows he should think again.
In our next report on Thursday, we will drive this message home with a hard-hitting report showing just how successful Brexit has been for the country. When the voters are presented with this stark reality, they may be even less-inclined to back Mr Burnham’s outdated opinions.
Lord Redwood gave us his final comments: "Mr Burnham takes seriously the Lib Dem idea of joining the EU Customs Union. That would be a great way of putting up the cost of living and closing more UK factories.
"We would have to put tariffs back on food and goods imported from outside the EU. Industry would face tariffs on raw materials and components they need, making them less competitive. The UK would have to give up its free trade Agreements with India, Australia, New Zealand and the CPTPP and lose its vote and voice on the World Trade Organisation."
