British Prime Minister Andy Burnham proposed a national debate surrounding Brexit (Britain's withdrawal from the EU).
According to Reuters, Associated Press and BBC, Prime Minister Burnham said in a speech at the Labor Party convention held in Liverpool on the 29th (local time), "Brexit has done more harm than good," and mentioned the summit between the UK and the European Union (EU) scheduled for November.
Prime Minister Burnham said: "I will use this summit as an opportunity to present to you a number of options that I consider for the UK's long-term relationship with our European partners. I will see if we can find a way to reach agreement."
Prime Minister Burnham previously expressed his opinion in favor of rejoining the EU, but since he began being mentioned as a possible next prime minister in May of this year, he has expressed his stance that he will not pursue rejoining the EU, saying, "I respect the results of the 2016 referendum."
The Labor Party government, which took office in July 2024, has ruled out a push to rejoin the EU, but has instead pursued a plan to re-establish bilateral relations much closer with the EU.
Public opinion's desire for the UK to rejoin the EU is quite high. According to the results of a YouGov poll last June, support for rejoining the EU was 55%, significantly higher than the opposition rate of 34%.
However, as the UK implemented the results of the Brexit referendum while experiencing political and social chaos, actually formalizing rejoining discussions was close to a political taboo.
Reuters pointed out that Prime Minister Burnham's remarks today risked rekindling the bitter divisions surrounding Brexit.
The EU's general position is that it welcomes a closer relationship with the UK, but it has not specified what method it would like to take.
Richard Tice, deputy leader of the right-wing British Reform Party, fiercely criticized Burnham, saying, "Five minutes after becoming prime minister, Burnham is trying to sneak us back in through the back door to Brussels (EU)," and added, "The British Reform Party will not stand by and watch this betrayal."
On this day, Prime Minister Burnham also announced plans to reform the social welfare system and the electoral system.
He proposed the idea of โโa 'national care service' provided free of charge, similar to the National Health Service (NHS). He said he would abolish the current method of determining national pension payments from 2030 to secure financial resources. This means that we will secure financial resources for elderly care by abolishing the system that guaranteed an increase in pension payments.
Prime Minister Burnham also announced that he would establish a national committee to study ways to reform the electoral system to be introduced from the next general election. Previously, he expressed his position that a proportional representation system was necessary.
The UK has a single-member constituency system in which the candidate with the most votes in 650 constituencies becomes a member of the House of Representatives. It has been pointed out that this does not reflect the situation in which the traditional two-party system has been shaken in recent years and votes are divided among various parties.
The Labor Party had a vote rate of 34% in the 2024 general election, but swept 412 out of 650 seats, raising further doubts about the single-member district system.
Prime Minister Burnham said, โIf we continue as we are now and hand the office of prime minister to a divisive government with about 30% of the vote, we will be failing in our public duty.โ
โI acknowledge that I may pay a political price,โ he said, but added, โSomeone has to break through the pain barrier and rip off the Band-Aid.โ
Major foreign media outlets pointed out that Prime Minister Burnham presented a plan that day that could bring about drastic changes in British society and that political controversy was inevitable.
Bloomberg News explained, "Prime Minister Burnham threw the dice on a radical policy that could spark the most controversial political debate, knowing that it could backfire." The Associated Press also pointed out that "Prime Minister Burnham promised radical change to Britain in a high-risk political speech."
However, the BBC pointed out that these are closer to the promises that the ruling Labor Party will make in the next general election to be held in 2029, rather than measures that can be implemented immediately.
The ruling Labor Party's approval rating, which plummeted immediately after Prime Minister Starmer's inauguration in July 2024, recovered somewhat after Prime Minister Burnham's inauguration in July this year, but is still only in the 20% range. It ranks first, narrowly within the margin of error with the right-wing British Reform Party and the main opposition Conservative Party.
