Andy Burnham's Brexit surrender is gathering pace – but much worse is to come

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Andy Burnham's Brexit “surrender” mission is gathering pace as he joins European leaders for crunch talks. The Prime Minister is expected to discuss the package at a crunch…

Andy Burnham's Brexit “surrender” mission is gathering pace as he joins European leaders for crunch talks. The Prime Minister is expected to discuss the package at a crunch high-level gathering in Dublin on Friday.

While the focus of the European Political Community summit is on Russia and Ukraine, Britain’s relationship with the EU will be at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Euro-tubthumpers Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will both be there. But Dublin is merely the warm-up act.

Next week, Mr Burnham travels to Brussels for the UK-EU summit. Concerns are mounting that the Labour leader will use the “love-in” to make deep concessions to get better trade terms.

They could include contributions to EU coffers, a youth “free movement” scheme and taking the bloc's rules. Member states are also gearing up to play hardball over demands for cut-price tuition fees.

Mr Burnham’s wider push for rejoining the EU entirely after the next election is hugely toxic, not least within his own top team. More widely, many see this as a complete betrayal of the 17.4million people who voted to leave the European Union for good in the 2016 referendum.

David Cameron delivered a stark warning this week that the UK must not go back into the bloc, urging the current PM to stop blaming Brexit for the UK's economic woes. Lord Cameron saw his own premiership derailed by his loss in the referendum, during which he led the Remain campaign.

Mr Burnham has said he will also use the summit to “set up a serious dialogue” about the UK's longer-term ties with the EU, having claimed that “sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain”. The PM, who has previously expressed a wish to see the UK rejoin the EU in his lifetime, has said he will soon set out “different options” for voters.

Recent polling suggests Burnham is totally misguided about his ambitions over Brexit. When he won the Makerfield by-election in June, he promised a "Makerfield test" at the heart of…

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