Rayner Backs Burnham's Call for Free Movement Debate With EU

Angela Rayner has backed Andy Burnham's call for the UK to consider a return to free movement with the EU, opening a visible split at the top of government over Britain's relationship with Europe.

The housing secretary told Sky News the idea was "just pragmatism." She said: "It's about what is the best deal for Britain and that's what we are asking the public to look at. The prime minister is clear that you can't take anything off the table when you're having a conversation."

Burnham, who made his plea in an interview with the Sunday Times, said staying out of free movement would no longer be a red line in talks with the EU. He argued the migration picture has shifted since Britain was last inside the system.

"Freedom of movement had very significant challenges associated with it and I spoke about them in my previous time in parliament," Burnham said. "But, at the same time, it was a type of immigration that perhaps wasn't as difficult [as now]."

He added: "Revolving-door migration where people would come and then go back is different. The balance of migration has changed, hasn't it, since then? I think we've just got to have an honest discussion about those things."

Who else supports reopening the debate?

Rayner isn't alone in cabinet. Several senior ministers want a much closer relationship with the EU to boost growth, potentially including a return to the single market and accepting free movement as part of that deal. Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, is among those favoring a rethink.

Backbench support is growing too. Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who chairs the Labour Movement for Europe, said Burnham was right that the UK was "long overdue for a grownup conversation about what EU freedom of movement actually means to our supply chains and for jobs for British citizens."

Creasy's framing points at the economic core of the argument: supply chains and labor markets. For business, the question is whether single-market access with attached free movement beats the current trade-friction-heavy arrangement.

Where does the cabinet disagree?

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is among the more cautious voices. Speaking at a New Statesman event during Labour party conference, she said rejoining the EU would not be a "simple, straightforward thing" and came with "quite hard trade-offs," such as eliminating trade friction without "some of the burdens that also brings."

Red wall MPs are wary as well. Labour members with heavily pro-Brexit seats in the north and Midlands fear reopening the argument. Jonathan Hinder, the MP for Pendle, recently pressed the prime minister in parliament to rule out a return to free movement outright.

Richard Walker, the Labour peer and executive chair of Iceland, raised concerns on Sunday on Times Radio. He said restarting the debate would set a "dangerous precedent" and that opening the borders would not help the "one million young people that are out of work."

How did the opposition respond?

The response from the right was immediate. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, called the idea of reopening free movement "another example of Burnham's foot-in-mouth syndrome."

"He hasn't thought this through or the implications," Badenoch posted on social media. "Most people who voted for Brexit did so because they didn't want free movement. Too many politicians have failed to understand the significance and impact of immigration on communities."

She added: "We have had more than enough experience of what happens when politicians, including previous Conservative governments, promise control but fail to deliver it. The answer is to learn from those mistakes, not reopen free movement."

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, went further. He called Burnham's position a "total betrayal of Brexit Britain and his Makerfield pitch." He added: "He is also deluded to say immigration was different when we were members of the EU. We will fight this dishonesty."

What do the numbers say about migration since Brexit?

The data complicates the political argument on both sides. Net migration rose to a peak of about 900,000 in January 2020 under a new points-based system, up from 330,000 before the Brexit vote.

During the 2016 referendum, the leave campaign argued that exiting the EU would let the UK take control of its borders. Free movement meant British and EU citizens could move freely within the bloc, which also shared a single market for goods and services.

Polling now suggests UK voters are increasingly open to rejoining the EU or accepting a single-market arrangement that involves free movement. That shift gives ministers pushing for closer ties a political opening, but the red wall MPs' resistance shows the electoral risk hasn't disappeared.

The immediate question is whether the prime minister treats Rayner's public endorsement as license for a formal policy review, or whether Mahmood's caution and backbench anxiety cap the debate at the "honest discussion" stage.