UK second EU referendum proposal, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): The United Kingdom could negotiate a deal to rejoin the European Union before holding another referendum on membership, according to sources. Andy Burnham, who is now Prime Minister, is reported to be considering trying to strike a deal with Brussels before putting it to British voters as he works to move the UK closer to the EU.
Crucially, the EU could be open to negotiating a deal on these terms, despite concerns that this could be a waste of time if voters then reject any terms of re-entry, one source said. An EU source said it is up to Britain to decide its own process for rejoining, and that Brussels “could” or “should” accept it.
The source also acknowledged the “political reality: would we be ready to go through everything knowing that there is a very realistic possibility that it would be for nothing?” However, the source added: “I don’t really see any other option, and it would not be dissimilar to what happens with other countries wanting to join.”
According to the Guardian, the Prime Minister is said to be considering a plan to secure a mandate to begin negotiations for the UK’s re-entry to the EU in the next Labour manifesto. This would be followed by a confirmatory referendum giving voters the final say if Labour subsequently won the election and successfully negotiated a deal.
A No 10 source said this was “speculative” and that Burnham was not yet at that stage in his thinking on the UK-EU relationship. Instead, he is focusing on a planned speech later this month in which he will frame the options open to Britain for moving closer to Brussels.
The source did not rule out the option, which is understood to be favored by some prominent pro-EU figures in Burnham’s orbit.
Meanwhile, UK and EU negotiators are concluding the delicate final stage of talks on a Brexit reset deal, to be signed off at a summit in Brussels on 20 November. The package will include deals on food and drink trade, linking carbon markets, and youth mobility, making it easier for under-30s to travel and live between the UK and EU.
Negotiations remain fraught over an EU demand for the UK to lower tuition fees for European students in Britain. The i Paper reported last week that this could hold up the Government’s reset deals.
Around the time of the summit, Burnham is also expected to outline longer-term options for moving closer to the EU, having previously said Brexit has done “more harm than good” to the UK.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Monday that the British public would have a role in approving whatever option Burnham chooses. He said: “The Prime Minister is clear that we do need to settle our long-term relationship with Europe, and around the time of the summit, he’ll set out options for what that relationship could look like.
The public deserves an honest account and an open conversation about the country’s future. The Prime Minister is not assuming any particular outcome, as he said previously.
The country needs to know where it’s going.”
