French minister invites UK back to EU as Burnham keeps rejoining option open

A Labour U-turn on Europe

Andy Burnham used his first speech as prime minister at Labour's party conference to suggest Britain could rejoin the EU. He said the government would weigh the full range of options for the UK's future relationship with the bloc, including keeping current arrangements, rejoining the customs union, returning to the single market or going 'all the way' with full membership. Burnham said it was not 'about leaping to a referendum', but added that if public opinion is 'pointing towards' re-entry, he could commit to a vote in the next manifesto. He also declined to rule out skipping a referendum and fighting the next general election on a promise to rejoin. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, after the June 2016 referendum in which 51.9% of voters chose to leave. Asked on Sky News whether he still stood by his aim of seeing the UK back in the EU within his lifetime, he replied:

I said in my lifetime and I've said that I'm not going to pull back from that.

Paris and Berlin respond

French finance minister Roland Lescure welcomed the prospect in an interview with the BBC, saying the decision belongs to British voters. He said the British had decided and that this was their full right, but that they would have to decide again if they wanted to return. Lescure's offer followed President Emmanuel Macron's remark last week that a return by Britain, if the prime minister was heading that way, would be very good news for the UK and for Europeans. Burnham is travelling to Germany for talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose government has backed the idea that the UK could explore closer links with the EU. The two are expected to agree on closer security cooperation against cyber-attacks, and they will also discuss UK-EU relations. Lescure put his message more bluntly in the BBC interview:

But what I can tell them is: come back, anytime.

The Made in Europe dispute

The European Commission proposed the Made in Europe programme in March 2026, and it is still going through the legislative process. The scheme would give EU companies priority in public contracts and subsidies, a measure intended to protect the bloc's industry from Chinese competitors. Burnham has expressed concern that it could harm British manufacturers and supply chains. Europe's car industry has called for the UK to be included to avoid disruption to component flows between producers. British government sources had warned days earlier that the 'EU reset' summit would be delayed again unless the bloc agreed to discuss legislation that could lock British business out of parts of EU industry. Asked whether Britain could be excluded, Lescure repeated his invitation:

Come back, and you'll be at the table, and we discuss all these things together.

Debt and polling pressures

Lescure's remarks come as French borrowing costs climb. Yields on French 10-year bonds reached almost 5%, a peak not seen since 2002, and the premium over German debt is the highest since the 2012 eurozone crisis, amid worries about political turbulence before next year's French presidential election. Lescure acknowledged that France's debt level is worrying and said the government must act now. Asked whether the European Central Bank might intervene, he said his task is to ensure France does not have to resort to it. On the domestic side, polls cited by the Guardian show as many as 59% of the public favour rejoining the EU. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage dismissed the polls and said Burnham had given him the biggest boost in his career, arguing that support would fall once voters learned the cost, which he put at 25bn pounds a year.