UK PM Burnham says he wants to discuss a return to EU freedom of movement

Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he wants to discuss Britain returning to the European Union’s freedom of movement rules for workers, a key issue in the 2016 Brexit referendum which led to the United Kingdom leaving the bloc.

Addressing the need to rethink ties with Brussels, Burnham told The Sunday Times newspaper that the influx of EU workers into Britain before Brexit had posed significant challenges.

“But, at the same time, it was a type of immigration that perhaps wasn’t as difficult [as now],” he said in a report released on Sunday.

“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 said.

The issue of immigration was a key factor in the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign that ended with Britons narrowly voting to leave the EU.

A decade later, Burnham, who has even touted the possibility of Britain applying to rejoin the EU one day, said the country should have an “honest discussion” about how immigration to Britain has changed since Brexit.

Long-term net migration to the UK nearly halved in 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), falling to 171,000 in 2025 from 331,000 a year earlier. This drop had not been seen since before the post-Brexit immigration system was introduced, as tougher government measures have restricted arrivals.

In his October 19 interview with The Sunday Times, Burnham said the issue of freedom of movement could be considered as part of a broader reset of the UK’s relationship with the EU, including on data sharing and migration.

“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 told The Sunday Times.

Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, called Burnham’s comments on free movement a “total betrayal of Brexit Britain”.

In his speech to the Labour Party conference last month, Burnham said Brexit had done “more harm than good” and called for Britain to consider its “long-term relationship” with the EU.

The prime minister, who is trying to find ways to speed up the UK economy, is due to meet top EU officials for a summit on November 20.