Andy Burnham has said he could go “all the way” and rejoin the European Union after he blamed Brexit for a “decade of drift and division” in the UK.
The prime minister said he would look at the “pros and cons” of all options and is considering the UK’s future relationship with Brussels.
In his first Labour Party conference speech as leader on Tuesday, the prime minister said Brexit had done “more harm than good” and promised to set out the options to the country around the time of a UK-EU summit later this year.
Asked later whether he wanted the UK to rejoin the bloc, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he wanted to “look at the options”.
“We could stay as we are. That’s definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay,” he said.
Mr Burnham used his Labour conference speech to vow to deliver a “new Britain” with plans to scrap the pensions triple lock, build a new social care service and overhaul the voting system.
Yvette Cooper giving conference speech
The health secretary, Yvette Cooper, has started her speech to the Labour conference.
Labour won't adjust triple lock before next election, minister insists
The cabinet minister responsible for pensions has denied laying the ground to adjust the triple lock before the next election would amount to a breach of Labour’s manifesto.
Pat McFadden told Sky News that changes to the triple lock on state pensions “would only come in after 2030”.
Asked whether Labour would “only legislate for any changes after” a future election, the work and pensions secretary replied: “Well, we’ll legislate before the changes come in.
“We obviously have to do that.”
Asked whether that would “be a breach of” the 2024 manifesto, Mr McFadden replied: “No, we’re keeping to our promise, which was to maintain the triple lock for the duration of this Parliament.
“And in the future, pensioners should know that their pension will continue to rise every year either by prices or by 2.5% whichever is the greater.
“And there’ll also be an additional peg, which is why this is an adjusted triple lock, whereby we will take the proportion of the pension in relation to average earnings in 2030 and lock those gains in for the future.”
Majority of Reform UK voters back Burnham's stance on EU – poll
More than half of Reform UK voters back Andy Burnham’s plans for closer post-Brexit ties with the EU, a new poll has found.
The survey of more than 2,000 British adults, carried out by Public First on behalf of Politico, found seven in 10 voters want the government to foster a closer relationship with Europe.
However, the poll said 51 per cent of voters backing Nigel Farage’s party also believe the UK’s current ties with Brussels are too distant.
Opinion: Did Andy Burnham’s Labour conference speech just make history?
Our writers deliver their verdicts on Andy Burnham’s first Labour party conference speech:
I'm not targeting pensioners, Burnham insists over plan to scrap triple lock
Andy Burnham has rejected the suggestion that he was picking on pensioners with the pensions triple lock change as “completely wrong”.
Asked why he was targeting pensioners, the prime minister told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I think you’ve got it completely wrong really, if you don’t mind me saying, to put it like that, because I have put out today a vision for a national care service.
“There are pensioners out there who watch your programme who are paying for care costs from their basic state pension. Now, is that right or fair?
“We have to fix this system. But what I’m saying about the triple lock enables a better support, better care for people in their homes. No care charges.
“So, please let me just make that point that people need to see these things in the round. It’s a better deal for older people going forward.”
Burnham says £4.7bn defence spending gap will be found
Money to plug a £4.7 billion gap in the defence investment plan will be found, Andy Burnham has promised.
The Prime Minister told Times Radio defence was “a major priority” for him.
He continued: “Of course it is, given where the world is right now. I said as soon as I came in that we would fully fund the defence investment plan.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on that and it will be fully funded.
“There was a shortfall, there won’t be.”
Mr Burnham also told the broadcaster: “What I was putting out there (on Tuesday) was quite a big argument about how Britain can change over the next decade – change the way we support young people, build more council homes.
“Both of those things will bring the welfare bill down in the next few years, and certainly in the second half of the next decade, and that opens up the opportunity for us to meet our commitments on defence.”
Burnham cites The Independent's interview with George Osborne as he outlines Brexit plans
Andy Burnham has cited The Independent's interview with former Conservative chancellor George Osborne as he outlined his plans to tackle the problems posed by Brexit.
Asked whether he wanted the UK to rejoin the EU, the prime minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he wanted to “look at the options”.
“We could stay as we are. That’s definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay,” he told the programme.
“We could look at what George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market or we could go all the way", he said.
It comes after Mr Osborne told The Independent's editor-in-chief Geordie Greig that Britain’s economy has “fallen off a cliff” since Brexit and the only way to recover is by rejoining the Brussels-run customs union.
“Brexit has been a mess. Britain has basically gone off a cliff. It has had a huge impact on the British economy. It is clearly poorer than it would otherwise be", he said.
McFadden refuses to rule out rejoining EU without second referendum
Pat McFadden has refused to rule out rejoining the EU without a second referendum.
Asked whether he would guarantee today that we'd only rejoin the EU with another referendum, the work and pensions secretary said: "I don't want to preempt what [Andy Burnham] is going to say later in the year. So I don't want to start ruling things in and ruling things out."
He said he will say more about this later in the year, and he will."
Cabinet minister hits back at suggestions Burnham is breaching manifesto pledge on triple lock
A Cabinet minister has hit back at suggestions that Labour is breaching its manifesto promise to keep the triple lock for the duration of this parliament.
Pat McFadden told Sky News: "I've got to push back against the suggestion that we are breaching any manifesto promise here.
"We said we would keep the triple lock for the duration of this parliament. We will keep that promise. The prime minister was absolutely clear about that in his speech yesterday, and it's really important that pensioners know that. And that's line one of this discussion on the triple lock."
Burnham 'knows what he believes in', McFadden says
Andy Burnham is someone "who knows what he believes in" - and that is something that has been missing from politics "for some time", a Cabinet minister has said.
Speaking about the prime minister's speech yesterday, work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News: "He laid out in a very personal way the direction in which he wants to lead the country and the way in which he wants to change the country.
"And as he said himself at the end of the speech, whether or not people agree with everything in it, they know that this is someone who knows what he believes in, knows where he wants to lead the country, and I think perhaps people have been missing that from politics for some time."
He added: "What I really liked about the speech was the combination of short-term things and long-term things in the speech, and his confidence in himself as a leader, because it's a very tough job.
"I've seen leadership up close. I've worked closely with all, really, all the Labour prime ministers in recent memory, and I know how tough that is. And you need a strong sense of yourself to do it successfully. And Andy Burnham showed that in spades yesterday."