Burnham tells Welsh Labour that Brexit cost Britain more than it gained

Speaking in Wales on Saturday, Burnham told the conference: “I think we’ve lost more than we’ve gained over the last 10 years.” He aimed the blame at the Conservatives, arguing they “burned all of our bridges” with the EU after the 2016 referendum and handed Britain “a harsher and harder Brexit than people thought they were getting”.

The prime minister is due in Brussels on 20 November to meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council chief António Costa. Deals on food and drink, carbon emissions and youth exchange could be signed there, and Burnham says the package could raise GDP by 0.4% — around £17bn. He also plans to “explore options” for a longer-term relationship with the bloc.

He framed the push as a cost-of-living fix, promising a food and farming deal would “get food prices down” and help Welsh farmers plus exporters of Welsh shellfish and lamb. Whitehall has already been inching closer: the Guardian reported this month that the UK would spend up to £450m a year on discounted tuition fees for EU students in exchange for access to the Made in Europe programme, and EU talks minister Hamish Falconer said Britain would discuss funding infrastructure in poorer EU regions for a seat in the European electricity market.

Brussels is not handing out free passes. Michel Barnier told the BBC there would be “no possibility to have one freedom and not the other”, calling the four freedoms the conditions for single market membership, and warned against rejoining “à la carte” or “cherrypicking”. Burnham, who has floated rejoining the single market, customs union or even the EU outright, stuck to Labour’s manifesto red lines on Saturday — no return to the customs union, single market or free movement — while saying voters would be “the boss” of any changes.