British officials have begun discussions with the European Union about a long term relationship that could include a return to free movement, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday. He stressed that the immediate focus is the summit with the bloc on November 20, where ministers hope to seal an agreement easing some trading restrictions, including a food and drink deal and cooperation on emissions trading, alongside a youth mobility deal. Those measures, he said, would make a significant difference on their own.
The longer term is where the language has moved. Reynolds said Prime Minister Andy Burnham wants a long term and stable relationship with the bloc and will set out the options after the summit, being frank about the trade offs. No assumptions had been made about the stage after the summit, he said, describing the talks as an exploration of future options, and no decision would be taken without voters having a say, though he did not specify whether that would come through a general election or a referendum.
Burnham supplied the harder edge on Monday. Asked whether he would allow a return to freedom of movement without a referendum, he said no, that he will never move ahead of the British public when it comes to Brexit, and that he is not proposing any changes in this parliament or moving away from the red lines in Labour’s manifesto. He had earlier ruled out rejoining the EU within this parliament while leaving open fighting the next general election, due by 2029, on a promise to take the UK back in.
The distinction to hold is between the summit’s actual agenda, trade frictions and youth mobility, and a free movement debate that ministers have now authorised themselves to have in public. Nothing has been proposed to Brussels on free movement, and the Conservative and Reform UK opposition to any return is already on the record. What changed this week is that the option is being named by serving ministers rather than ruled out.