Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, and France President Emmanuel Macron speak after a meeting at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Leaders in France and Spain have welcomed Andy Burnham’s suggestion that the UK could end up back in the EU under his watch.
The prime minister re-opened the Brexit debate during Labour’s annual party conference by saying rejoining the bloc is “an option” for Britain.
Burnham said: “Brexit hasn’t given us control. We’ve lost some of the control we had over our economy, as a decade of low growth has put us in a weaken position. And we’ve lost some of our control over immigration.”
His remarks to the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme opened the door for Labour to include a pledge to reverse Brexit in the next election manifesto.
The UK and the EU are set to have summit later this year to set out the future of their relationship.
Burnham’s remarks immediately sparked accusations of “betrayal” from pro-Brexit groups, but two key leaders in the EU already seem ready to forgive and forget.
In a joint press conference, French president Emmanuel Macron and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez seemed delighted at the idea.
Macron said in English “welcome back”, adding: “If the British want to come back and if the prime minister is moving in that direction, I think that is very good news both for his country and for Europeans.”
He then said: “Come back!”
According to the French president, the UK had “always been useful in helping us simplify things” adding that the British were “demanding partners” when they were part of the EU.
He praised the UK prime minister, claiming: “Andy Burnham is right to have this boldness.”
He also said they would only ever be able to have a limited relationship if the UK remained outside of the bloc.
“You cannot choose between the freedoms of the union and decide to take what suits us and not the rest,” Macron said.
Meanwhile Sanchez said Brexit was a “huge loss, both for the British population and for the whole European project”.
He said Spain would “applaud” if the UK chose to rejoin, adding that his country would “open its arms again to a brotherly people”.
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