UK Prime Minister to Push for New Post–Brexit Deal at EU Summit

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would attend a summit with the European Union in Brussels next month to negotiate a new post-Brexit deal to boost United Kingdom growth and control illegal immigration.

Britain left the EU in 2020, four years after the so-called Brexit referendum, but Burnham said last month that the UK could consider rejoining Europe, and he told the podcast “The Rest Is Politics” this week that Russia had interfered during the campaign.

He told the House of Commons on Monday that the UK–EU summit would take place on Nov. 20.

“This summit presents an opportunity to make progress on two crucial issues: boosting UK growth and controlling illegal immigration,” he said. 

Burnham said the Labour government’s priority was to secure a “successful outcome” at the summit, and he said he believed there should be a “serious dialogue” about options for the UK-EU’s long-term relationship.

‘Pragmatic Approach’: Burnham

“At every stage, the British public will be the boss, and I am clear that public opinion currently supports a pragmatic approach like the one I am suggesting,” Burnham said, after criticism in recent weeks that he is seeking to undermine the outcome of the Brexit referendum.

When Burnham first floated the idea of rejoining the EU at the Labour Party conference on Sept. 30, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice told the BBC that Burnham was “trying to sneak” the UK “back into Brussels via the back door” and said his party would “never let this betrayal go unchallenged.”

In May 2025, Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer negotiated a new deal with the EU, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, which is due to take effect in the middle of 2027.

But Burnham told lawmakers on Monday that more needed to be done.

“Sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain,” Burnham said. “Worse, it would be a major dereliction of duty to turn away.

“We need to take a calm, clear-eyed, rational look at the world as it is today, to consider what is best for our country.”

“On the table is a trade deal on food and drink products, a deal on emissions trading, progress towards linking our energy systems, a new youth experience scheme, and deeper cooperation on immigration,” he said.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, noted that earlier this year Burnham had said of Brexit, “the last thing we should do right now is rerun those arguments.”

“Yet here he is, unpicking the deal that this country signed with the EU, a decade after the referendum,” she said.

“He is not going to get a better deal. Not only are the EU tough negotiators, but he has already revealed his entire negotiating hand.”

‘Lazy Thinking’: Badenoch

She said both were just “lazy thinking from people who do not have solutions to the real problems that we face.”

The European Council confirmed on Monday that its president, Antonio Costa, and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen would meet Burnham in Brussels for a summit. 

Costa said it would be an opportunity to take stock of progress made over the past year on a variety of issues, including migration and law enforcement.

“The summit will also be an occasion to discuss the next steps in bilateral relations,” he said.

On Tuesday, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, wrote an essay on Substack in which he said recent analysis by his party suggested: “that rejoining the EU could send net migration soaring to about 500,000 people per year again.”

“Time is running out for Britain,” Farage wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.

“Open Borders Burnham has totally failed to control our borders. I challenge him to a general election. Let the people decide.”

Reuters contributed to this report.