Unions are set to call on Andy Burnham to ditch Labour’s Brexit red lines and negotiate a deeper trade relationship with the EU to boost the economy and jobs.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is expected to debate a motion next week calling on the Prime Minister to negotiate the “deepest possible partnership with the EU, prioritising the needs of working people”.
The Prospect union motion says: “This partnership should be guided by the national interest, not by arbitrary red lines, and no options should be off the table.”
Union sources said the motion was very likely to be passed by unions at the conference with only the RMT rail union set to oppose it.
While it could be softened during the debate at the TUC conference, unions are still expected to make clear they want Burnham to go further in deepening the economic relationship with the EU.
The i Paper reported last month the Prime Minister is planning to stick to Sir Keir Starmer’s Brexit red lines – no rejoining the single market, customs union or freedom of movement – having dropped his call to rejoin the EU as he fought to return as an MP in the Makerfield by-election.
Like Starmer, Burnham is planning to push for closer trade ties in a potential grand bargain which would see the UK agree to EU demands to lower university tuition fees for European students.
But the scale of the deal is limited by the red lines, which are fuelling ongoing calls within Labour and the wider movement to go further.
EU Relations Minister Hamish Falconer will urge his European counterpart Maroš Šefčovič to include Britain in the bloc’s protectionist “buy European” policies, an aim first revealed by The i Paper, in talks on Monday.
Burnham last week partly blamed Brexit for a decade of low economic growth after a “series of wrong turns” in the last 40 years, but has yet to set out how his ambitions or plans would change from Starmer’s.
The unions’ demands are expected to ramp up the pressure on Burnham ahead of the Labour Party conference where pro-EU elements of the party’s grassroots are moving to also call on the PM to “rip up the red lines on Europe”.
Ahead of the debate at TUC Congress, Prospect General Secretary Mike Clancy said: “Keir Starmer’s ‘red lines’ placed unnecessary constraints on EU talks, which made a good deal for Britain harder to obtain. The new Prime Minister should chart his own course on Europe, reject the overtures from Team Trump to dump consumer, worker, and environmental protections, and explore all avenues to increase cooperation on trade, defence and other key issues including through closer integration with the single market.
“I expect unions to send a clear message to the government next week.”
A Government spokesman said: “We are building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will strengthen our economy and unlock good growth in every postcode.”
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