Andy Burnham does not rule out the UK returning to free movement with the EU and calls for a “very rigorous, fact- and evidence-based debate”

British Premier Andy Burnham does not rule out the possibility that the United Kingdom could, under certain conditions, return to the European free movement system. The statement was made in an interview with The Sunday Times, against the backdrop of debates over the evolution of immigration after Brexit.

Burnham argued that the issue must be rigorously analyzed on the basis of data and evidence, without keeping the United Kingdom outside the European free movement system being a mandatory condition in any potential negotiations with the European Union.

The British politician said that the nature of immigration has changed after Brexit. According to him, more foreign citizens are choosing to settle permanently in the United Kingdom instead of returning to their countries of origin.

The statements do not constitute an official announcement regarding a change in government policy, but they reopen a sensitive debate in British politics. Free movement was abolished for European citizens after the United Kingdom left the EU, being replaced by a national immigration system based, among other things, on eligibility criteria for work. Immigration control was one of the central themes of the Brexit campaign.