Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called for an open dialogue regarding a potential return to European Union freedom of movement rules for workers, framing the issue as part of a broader effort to rebuild relations with Brussels.
Speaking to The Sunday Times in an interview conducted on October 19 and published on October 25, 2026, Burnham acknowledged that while the influx of EU workers created challenges prior to Brexit, the character of migration to the UK has changed.
“But, at the same time, it was a type of immigration that perhaps wasn’t as difficult [as now],”he said.
“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,”he added.
Burnham emphasized that re-evaluating free movement should be part of a comprehensive discussion on bilateral ties, including security and intelligence sharing.
“Consider what we’ve lost, which was the ability to be part of Eurodac and all the data collaboration around migration. You’ve got to see it in the round, rather than just looking at freedom of movement on its own,”he said.
The remarks drew immediate criticism from Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration
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