UK must rejoin EU to combat growing threat from Russia and Trump, Burnham warned
Escalating Russian aggression and an unpredictable Donald Trump mean Andy Burnham should aim to regain full membership of the European Union, a major new report has warned.
Being part of the EU is necessary to protect the UK’s prosperity, security and democracy and the prime minister should work to build a national consensus in favour of re-entry, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) argues.
But the Labour leader should “stop talking about Brexit” and recognise that the EU is a very different entity from the one the UK left in 2016, shaped by a series of different threats and challenges, including Vladimir Putin’s war on the edge of Europe, it said.
The stark message by the leading think tank, which has close links to Labour, is bolstered by new polling, commissioned by IPPR and Persuasion UK, which found that, there was a 64–36 split in favour of regaining membership to the bloc, among those expressing a view.
Even among Labour voters considering switching to Nigel Farage’s Reform, 54 per cent want to join the EU, compared with 36 per cent who want to stay out, the poll found.
Harry Quilter-Pinner, IPPR executive director, said: “The government has made important progress in repairing relations with Europe, but a series of individual deals will not be enough. There is one option which is best for the UK’s relationship with Europe – membership of the EU. That does not mean announcing another referendum tomorrow. But this means starting work to move towards this destination, building political support at home and in Europe.”
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, who previously told The Independent that rejoining the EU is the “only patriotic thing to do” for Britain and that Mr Burnham would be the man to do it, endorsed the IPPR’s call.
He said: “As the IPPR says and every sensible citizen knows, the world has changed traumatically in 10 years. That reality, together with our proximity to our biggest market, says that the rational course is for the UK to join the EU again in the national interest. Patriotism, prosperity and security all propel the UK in that direction.”
The prime minister recently said it was “possible” Labour’s next election manifesto could include an in-out referendum on EU membership, in his strongest signal yet of his intentions to repair the damage caused by the UK’s departure.
But he also announced at his party’s annual conference last month that he would look at other options that would take Britain closer to the bloc.
The report finds that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means “the EU is being transformed” and the bloc that Britain would join is fundamentally different from the one it left.
Increasingly a major security alliance, it is ramping up defence spending across the continent, a move that also has deep implications for industry and supply chains. Yet, it warns, British politics is still debating its relationship with the EU of a decade ago.
Laura Chappell, associate director at IPPR, said: “It’s time to stop talking about Brexit and focus entirely on the future. A lot has changed over the past decade. The prime minister has said his mission is to give people back control, but Britain can’t do that alone anymore.
“Whether it's protecting households from swings in the cost of living, restarting industry, or keeping us secure, we lack the weight to act alone. In today’s world, we can’t take back control while being an outsider in Europe.”
The IPPR calls on the government to work with the EU to, among other things, create a European Defence Alliance, with the UK offering capabilities that would allow Europe to rely less heavily on the US, including satellite communications.
Just last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s said Mr Trump had betrayed Ukraine by curbing its access to a vital Starlink satellite communications system at a crucial time in the Russian invasion.
Elon Musk’s Starshield – the military version of Starlink – has provided a lifeline to Ukraine in helping to defend against incoming attacks, as well as striking Russian targets. But Ukrainian officials on Wednesday began reporting issues with it following another souring of relations between Mr Trump and Ukraine, after he announced a deal to waive sanctions on Russian diesel and called for Mr Zelensky to be replaced.
Reacting to the IPPR report, Nick Boles, the former Tory minister who helped to prepare Labour for office before it entered government in 2024, said: “At last a report that recognises how much has changed in the world since Brexit.”
He added that it was “clear that we need a much closer relationship with our European allies so we can tackle together the defence and security challenges we face as well as the economic opportunities and threats posed by AI and unfair competition from China.”
Dr Mike Galsworthy, chair of pro-EU group, European Movement UK, said: "The Brexit vote may have been cast just a decade ago, but in geopolitical terms it feels like a previous age. The IPPR are quite right that we are in a new era with new urgent demands and new solutions available. There is also a new mood in the country about where we belong in the world, reappraising the responsibilities and opportunities we should be picking up. So the past needs to be buried and the future embraced.”
Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, which campaigns for the UK to restore its EU membership, said the UK was “worse off, less secure, and increasingly isolated” as a result of Brexit, and it was “only right as we look forward to the next decade that we ask ourselves what course we want to chart”.
“Prioritising being safer, better off and back around the table with our reliable allies and close neighbours is the only acceptable option for the UK: we either tackle the multi-crises facing us all, together, or continue on a hiding to nowhere, down a path of non-existent growth, diminishing influence, and worryingly fading security,” she said.
A government spokesperson said: “We are building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will strengthen our economy and create more opportunities for young people and communities across the whole UK."
Persuasion UK polled 3,039 people from 11–15 June and 2,907 people between 25–30 June.
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