Andy Burnham has opened the door to a return for freedom of movement between the UK and EU, saying that he wants an “honest discussion” about the possibility.
It marks the latest in the prime minister’s drive to revisit the nation’s relationship with the bloc post-Brexit, which he has said in the past caused “more harm than good”.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Burnham said: “I was asked about how things have changed in the 10 years since Brexit, and the truth of the matter is we’ve lost immigration control in the way that we once had.
“For instance, the small boats crisis has arisen in the last 10 years because we lost that returns agreement when people came here that we could work with other countries to return them.
“And when it comes to immigration more broadly, we’re seeing a situation where people are coming here to settle permanently in a way that we had more revolving door migration in the EU.”
The prime minister added that he would not return to the pre-Brexit movement scheme without first putting it to the nation in a referendum.
His comments appear to pave the way for a return to free movement with the EU. However, Mr Burnham’s commitment to stick to Labour’s manifesto pledge on Brexit red lines means that he would likely not begin work on the plan until after the next general election.
Here’s what freedom of movement with the EU could mean for Britain in 2026:
A return to free movement would end the current points-based immigration system for European nationals, bringing back reciprocal rights under European Single Market rules.
For British citizens, it would remove the 90-day Schengen limit, ending the need for visas, employer sponsorship, and electronic permits to travel to Europe. As before, the UK would likely not technically join the Schengen area to retain its own border controls.
UK passport holders would once again be able to live, study and work across all 27 member states without restriction. They would also regain access to reciprocal healthcare via the EHIC system, as well as the cross-border coordination of state pensions.
In return, EU citizens would once again be allowed to move to the UK to seek work without meeting skilled-worker salary thresholds or paying costly visa fees.
There is a common misconception that freedom of movement allowed Britons to settle indefinitely in the EU. This was not the case: anyone staying longer than three months was required to be employed, self-employed, studying, or financially self-sufficient with private health cover.
Leaving the European Union did not lead to the drop in net migration that many voters were promised in the 2016 referendum.
Analysts have pointed out that, rather than reducing the number of people arriving in Britain, the post-Brexit visa system instead changed where migrants were arriving from.
Net migration surged to an all-time high of 944,000 in the year to March 2023, official statistics show, driven by a steep rise in non-EU arrivals.
The government subsequently tightened visa rules in 2024 and 2025, banning most dependants and raising salary floors to £38,700. Those measures successfully brought net migration down to around 171,000.
The changes have also meant that many more workers are residing in the UK permanently, rather than visiting to work seasonally from the EU.
While migration numbers from Europe have collapsed, the changed system has opened up substantial routes for international students and overseas healthcare recruits from countries like India and Nigeria, researchers at Oxford University's Migration Observatory have said.
European net migration is now in the negative, with more EU nationals leaving Britain than arriving to live each year.
A full return to UK-EU freedom of movement is unlikely until at least the next decade. The prime minister has said he will not revisit Labour’s red lines on Brexit until after the next election, which is set to take place in 2029 at the latest.
This will also require a referendum, he has said. Full free movement would also require the UK to rejoin the European Single Market under most models, making lengthy talks with EU officials inevitable.
However, smaller, targeted mobility deals reportedly remain on the table ahead of upcoming UK-EU summits.
Ministers continue to explore proposals from the European Commission for a two-way youth mobility scheme for young people aged 18 to 30.
