![\"Labour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/eu-flag-6926750.jpg\" "\\"Labour")
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Labour leadership contenders Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting (Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Many Left-wingers never really accepted the decision to leave the European Union<\/a>. They think the British public made a terrible mistake by voting for Brexit<\/a> in 2016. And that was certainly the view among Labour<\/a> MPs \u2013 but they didn\u2019t dare state their honest opinion out loud.<\/p>\n Now, Labour\u2019s leadership turmoil<\/a> has given them a chance to say what they really think. And the UK could soon have not just a Labour leader but a prime minister who wants to rejoin the EU and isn\u2019t afraid to say so. David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister, has just provided a stark illustration of Labour\u2019s lack of candour. He was asked directly on Sky News on Monday whether he supported rejoining the EU.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> Nigel Farage issues blunt warning – as even Labour MPs admit Burnham could lose <\/a><\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> Keir Starmer accused of ‘rewriting Brexit’ with controversial new law <\/a><\/p>\n Mr Lammy responded: \u201cI\u2019m committed to collective responsibility. The manifesto we stood on.\u201d<\/p>\n And asked the same question on LBC, he said: \u201cOnce you resign, you\u2019re free to say what you want. In government, you\u2019re subject to collective responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, he can\u2019t tell us what he really thinks. But it\u2019s pretty clear that he really thinks the UK should rejoin the EU.<\/p>\n To be fair to Mr Lammy, he\u2019s right. Every Cabinet minister is expected to support the Government\u2019s official policy, at least on the big issues, and if they won\u2019t do that, then they have to resign.<\/p>\n The official policy is to remain outside the EU \u2013 not because this is what Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> supports, but because he knew he had to say this in order to win the 2024 General Election.<\/p>\n But the two Labour politicians who now hope to replace Sir Keir can say what they like.<\/p>\n Former health secretary Wes Streeting said Brexit<\/a> had been a \u201ccatastrophic mistake\u201d. And he said: \u201cWe need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain\u2019s future lies with Europe \u2013 and one day back in the European Union<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Why did he say this? Firstly, because he believes it and he\u2019s now free to give his honest opinion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But secondly, because he is trying to appeal to Labour Party members. They are the people, not ordinary voters like you and me, who will decide the next leader of the Labour Party. That means they will decide who becomes prime minister.<\/p>\n And they are a bunch of Remainers. If you want their support, it helps to oppose Brexit.<\/p>\n Andy Burnham, who also hopes to become Labour leader, told the Labour Party conference last year that he wanted the UK to rejoin the EU, saying: \u201cI hope it happens in my lifetime … that\u2019s my belief, and I\u2019ll say it clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n He has now attempted to play down these comments, saying there was a \u201clong-term case\u201d for advocating to join the EU, but insisted he was not campaigning on that issue in the Makerfield by-election taking place in June. Mr Burnham hopes to use this by-election to return to Parliament as an MP, allowing him then to stand for the party leadership.<\/p>\n His problem is that he currently needs to appeal to Makerfield voters, including those in Wigan, St Helens and the surrounding area. The last thing they want to hear is a fresh row over Brexit.<\/p>\n So Mr Burnham is currently trying to play down his Remainer views. But this will change if and when he faces a different electorate \u2013 Labour Party activists, the people Mr Streeting is already trying to appeal to.<\/p>\n Brexit is now in real danger. A return to rule by Brussels is on the cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour leadership contenders Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting (Image: PA) Many Left-wingers never really accepted the decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":968547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,5322,43667,748,2000,5110,257445,299,5187,1699,4884,528,11508,16,3106,15],"class_list":["post-968546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brexit","tag-brexit","tag-brexit-news","tag-brexit-reversal","tag-britain","tag-eu","tag-eu-referendum","tag-eu-rejoining","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-great-britain","tag-labour-party","tag-politics-section","tag-uk","tag-uk-politics","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116595183193673140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}