UK prime minister Andy Burnham is looking at "different options" to Brexit as he seeks to rebuild the UK's relationship with its largest trading partner, the EU. In a shift towards Britain reversing Brexit Mr Burnham used his speech at the Labour Party conference to declare the exit from the EU had “done more harm than good”. In a significant indication that the UK may seek to row back on the 2016 referendum, the new Prime Minister said that at an upcoming EU summit he will set out long-term options with Britain’s biggest trading partner. In his first speech as party leader, he said that in UK politics “something very different is needed”, because “more of the same is not good enough”. “I’m going to break the mould today. I’m going to give you a real speech,” Burnham said. Those in the conference hall held their breath, then rose in applause for announcement after announcement on his plans for government. He promised to “put the country on a new path”. At the very end of his hour-long speech, which he gave without a lectern, he made the most significant shift yet in Labour’s position on Brexit. The summit, expected in November, will examine a range of options that will signal much closer economic integration. “We will not give Britain the clear path we need into the rest of this century until we decide on a long-term relationship with what is still our largest market,” he said....
This page contains an attributed headline and the preview text supplied through the publisher’s RSS feed. Copyright in the original reporting belongs to The National.