Andy Burnham under pressure from EU to not deport foreign criminals, says leaked deal

Detailed summary

The Prime Minister will promise not to send foreign criminals back to EU countries at a 'surrender summit' this week.

Published: 00:52 GMT, 15 November 2026 | Updated: 00:59 GMT, 15 November 2026

Andy Burnham will promise not to send foreign criminals back to EU countries at a 'surrender summit' this week, according to a leaked draft agreement with the bloc.

The proposed deal was last night described by Kemi Badenoch as a sign the Prime Minister will agree to 'a laundry list of extra costs for struggling families' at the meeting in Brussels on Friday.

And it comes as pro-Brexit campaigners suggest the UK could be forced to take in more than 4,400 extra asylum seekers a year, or pay Brussels an extra £76 million annually, if Mr Burnham's Brexit 'reset' leads to Britain rejoining the EU.

The Prime Minister has said he plans to use the UK-EU summit as the launch pad for a 'conversation' on future relations, which could end with Britain going 'all the way' back into the Brussels club.

The Prime Minister will promise not to send foreign criminals back to EU countries at a 'surrender summit' this week

The section on prisoners declares, on Britain's part, that 'the UK recognises the concerns of the EU with the early removal and deportation of foreign national offenders from the UK to the EU Member States in particular under the Sentencing Act 2026' and that 'the UK commits not to proceed with such removals and deportations in the future'.

Officials insist the leaked draft is an early version of the final agreement – to be signed by Mr Burnham and EU counterpart Ursula von der Leyen – and that intense negotiations have continued since it was drawn up.

But Tory leader Mrs Badenoch told The Mail on Sunday: 'Andy Burnham's EU reset is rapidly becoming a laundry list of extra costs for struggling families. Whether it's being asked to pay into Europe's electricity market, which is likely to push up energy bills, or paying into an EU asylum fund with no guarantee it stops a single small boat, it looks like Burnham is being taken for a ride.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Daily Mail. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.