German chancellor Friedrich Merz meets Andy Burnham as concern mounts about PM’s Brexit plans (Image: AP/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been warned he risks betraying the voters of Makerfield if he U-turns on his promise to respect the result of the Brexit referendum and pushes for Britain to rejoin the European Union. Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former leader of Commons, warned that rejoining would be “disastrous for this nation”, “built on dishonesty” and a “cheat on Andy Burnham’s own electors”.

An estimated 65% of voters in Makerfield backed the UK leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum. Tory Brexiteer Sir Jacob told the Express that “accession” to the EU would mean “another great wave of immigration, this time legal, unstoppable, unbannable” – plus the “destruction of the independence of the UK economy”.

In May, before Sir Keir Starmer was forced from office, Mr Burnham declared that the “last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments” and warned that “Britain will be stuck in a permanent rut if we’re just constantly arguing and people are pulling away from each other”.

But last week, the Labour leader announced in his conference speech that he would lay out “different options” for the UK’s long-term future with Europe. In an interview, he said options included a customs union, membership of the single market or going “all the way”.

Labour’s 2024 election manifesto pledged that the party would seek to “make Brexit work” and promised there would be “no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement”.

Prior to winning Makerfield and then becoming Labour leader and Prime Minister, Mr Burnham said: “I’m not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU. I respect the decision that was made with the referendum.” Yet in his conference speech, the PM said: “Brexit has done more harm than good”. A UK-EU summit is expected next month, and Mr Burnham has said he will “see if we can bring the UK closer to Europe”.

Sir Jacob described election commitments to voters as the “foundation stone of what you do politically”, adding: “Andy Burnham has broken faith. He has moved away from that foundation stone because of his love for the European Union.”

He said: “This would be disastrous for this nation. But it would also be stunningly undemocratic. It would be built on dishonesty… Politics ought not to operate on that basis. It certainly can’t be done on nine million votes that Labour got at the last election against the 17million votes in the referendum. And it shouldn’t be done at all, because it is a cheat on Andy Burnham’s own electors.”

A government spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister’s plan is to move beyond division and build a national consensus around a practical relationship with Europe that strengthens security, supports business, and delivers growth in every part of the UK.”

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Andy Burnham accused of ‘inciting disorder’ over migrant crisis (Image: Getty)

Andy Burnham has been accused of inciting disorder across the country because of the way his Government is handling the migration crisis.

It comes after his administration suffered its worst day on record, with 781 illegal migrants breaking into the country in unlawful Channel crossings in a single day.

The record-breaking influx also saw two boats arrive on UK shores undetected, sparking fury in Westminster and triggering threats of protests at migrant sites.

Horrendous footage and pictures, seen in Thursday’s Daily Express, also show what appears to be a man abandoning a child in the water so he can climb aboard a crowded dinghy.

Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf warned that numbers were “accelerating” despite Home Office claims that the overall total had reduced.

He told Good Morning Britain that the UK has had “north of 210,000 people turn up on our beaches illegally in the past eight years” and warned “people’s lives are being turned upside down”.

Those comments were in relation to the village of Piddington, which recently hosted a symbolic referendum to leave the UK in protest against the housing of migrants at a nearby base.

Mr Yusuf said residents “are terrified that they are about to be outnumbered 10 to 1 by illegal migrant men”.

Home Office data shows a decline in the number of crossings this year, but critics say the overall figure remains far too high, with an insufficient number of people being sent back to their countries of origin.

Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf accuses Andy Burnham of inciting disorder (Image: Getty)

In a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, Mr Yusuf said: “Andy Burnham is inciting disorder in Britain by wielding the state’s monopoly on violence to impose unvetted men from countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea into local communities.”

He added: “This is unprecedented. I am worried the country is heading to a dark place.”

His remarks refer to footage showing coaches used to transfer migrants from the coast to immigration centres being accompanied by a police escort.

There have been mounting protests by masked men near locations used to hold migrants, though police support for security reasons is not uncommon.