Labour Leadership Hopefuls Differ on Rejoining EU After Local Election Losses

Labour is facing renewed internal debate over Brexit after suffering defeats to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party in recent local elections. The party’s culture secretary Lisa Nandy accused would-be leadership contender Wes Streeting of reopening the Brexit wars inside the party.

Streeting said leaving the EU was a catastrophic mistake that left Britain less wealthy, less powerful, and less in control than at any point since before the Industrial Revolution. He called for a new special relationship with the bloc and stated that Britain’s future lies with Europe and one day back in the European Union, adding that any move would require a fresh mandate such as a general election.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has previously told the Labour Party conference that he hopes the UK rejoins the EU in his lifetime because people prosper more when they are part of unions. In a Saturday night interview, Burnham said he sees a long-term case for rejoining but is not advocating that position in the Makerfield by-election, where voters backed Leave in 2016.

Angela Rayner has rejected revisiting the in-or-out debate. She told ITV that the government should instead address challenges Brexit has created for businesses seeking access to the EU market. Rayner, who campaigned to remain in the EU in 2016, said she remains a democrat despite being fiercely pro-EU.

The internal discussion follows Labour’s losses to Reform UK in local contests held days earlier. Makerfield, the constituency Burnham must win to enter Parliament, voted to leave the EU in 2016. Allies of Burnham indicated he would not emphasize Europe in his campaign pitch to those voters.