UK PM Burnham open to talks on EU free movement

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he wants an “honest discussion” about restoring EU free movement, in a Sunday Times interview reported on Oct. 25, 2026, ahead of a UK-EU summit in Brussels on Nov. 20.

The remarks reopen the most divisive issue of the 2016 Brexit vote and break with the line of his predecessor, Keir Starmer, whose 2024 manifesto ruled out free movement, single market membership and a customs union. Burnham, who became prime minister in July 2026, had backed that pledge until now, the Australian Associated Press reported.

“I think we’ve just got to have an honest discussion about those things,” Burnham said, according to Euronews. He said migration has been “different” since Britain left the EU in early 2020 and that the balance has shifted. According to AAP, the interview was conducted on Oct. 19.

Burnham ruled out joining the euro or the Schengen border-free travel area. “I can’t see myself ever recommending anything that would involve joining,” he said. He said free movement could form part of a wider reset with Brussels covering areas such as data sharing and migration. A new referendum would be needed to rejoin the EU, he said, but not necessarily to rejoin the single market or a customs union, AAP reported.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the comments a “total betrayal of Brexit Britain,” Euronews reported. Jeremy Hunt, a former Conservative chancellor who backed remaining in the EU in 2016, told Sky News that reopening the debate would be a mistake. He said relaxing immigration rules would be “a hammer blow” to efforts to move people from welfare into work, AAP reported.

Burnham has said he will set out options for closer ties with the EU around the Nov. 20 summit. Both sides hope to reach agreements on food and drink, youth mobility and emissions trading there, Euronews reported. He said in September that Britain should consider all options, including possibly rejoining the bloc one day.

The numbers are part of the argument. Official data show long-term net migration in 2025 fell to close to its pre-2021 level, AAP reported. Any major change would likely need a public mandate, and the next general election is not expected until 2029, Euronews reported.

For Canada, the shift matters because the country trades with both sides. Canada has a trade agreement with the EU, and the Canada-EU summit in Montreal is set for Oct. 29 and 30. Britain’s economic direction is also in focus ahead of the U.K. budget on Oct. 28.

Next, Burnham is due to meet top EU officials in Brussels on Nov. 20, when he has promised to lay out his options.

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Via Euronews and AAP.