Burnham Tells Cabinet Brexit Was Harder Than Promised, Bars Ministers From Speaking Out

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told his cabinet that the Conservatives' Brexit deal delivered "a harder Brexit than had been promised at the referendum," and ordered ministers not to air their own views on the UK's future relationship with the EU.

A Downing Street summary of Wednesday's cabinet meeting placed Burnham's remarks on Brexit above even the budget, which Chancellor John Healey was due to deliver shortly afterwards. "The prime minister opened by setting out how he would shortly write to cabinet on the UK's relationship with the EU," the summary said. "He said the Brexit deal left by the last government had been bad for the UK and had led to a harder Brexit than had been promised at the referendum."

Burnham followed up with a letter to frontbenchers. It carried a blunt warning: no minister should champion a specific option for the EU relationship before a review of longer-term choices concludes.

What did the letter say?

"It is important that we remain aligned and disciplined as a government in our messaging throughout this period," Burnham wrote. "It will not be appropriate for ministers individually to advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process."

The instruction follows reports that some ministers, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, have concerns about a revised deal that could bring back free movement of people to and from the EU — a possibility Burnham himself has raised publicly.

The discipline plea matters because cabinet collective responsibility now formally covers the policy. Burnham wrote that any fundamental change to the relationship "would be for the public to decide and a matter for the next parliament," adding: "This is government policy to which cabinet collective responsibility applies."

How does Burnham plan to change the deal?

The letter set out a two-stage approach:

• Stage one: initial changes confined to Labour's 2024 manifesto, which committed the party to staying outside the EU's customs union and single market and to not reinstating freedom of movement. This process formally begins when Burnham attends a European summit next month.
• Stage two: anything more substantial waits until after the next election, preceded by a discussion on what deeper reform might entail.

"I am clear in my conviction that the Brexit deal negotiated by the Conservative government was not good enough for Britain," Burnham wrote in the letter. "It has led to a decade of low growth, burdened businesses with more red tape and weakened our ability to control immigration. It is a harder Brexit than was promised at the EU referendum."

He framed the summit as a concrete milestone. "We hope the summit will lead to some important, concrete steps. Beyond it, we will need to consider the UK's long-term relationship with the EU as part of our 10-year plan. I will set out the next steps for this process around the summit."

Burnham argued the world has moved on since the vote. "Both the UK and the EU have changed considerably in the 10 years since the Brexit vote. Any future relationship depends on practical arrangements that are realistic for both sides, and responsive to this new reality," he wrote.

How did Badenoch respond?

Breach of the truce came fast. At prime minister's questions on Wednesday, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch challenged Burnham on his Brexit plans. Burnham repeated his critique of the current deal and said the UK "was paralysed by the party opposite" in the wake of the referendum.

Badenoch countered that Burnham has been exploiting freedoms that Brexit created, citing the ability to remove VAT from energy bills. "What he should be saying is: 'Thank you,'" she said.

The exchange sets the battle lines for the coming months. Burnham has promised detail on next steps around next month's European summit, while keeping his own ministers silent on the options — a discipline that will be tested the moment the summit produces anything concrete.