The Prime Minister will give a statement in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.
Andy Burnham to address MPs on Monday afternoon (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham is likely to spark fury when he tells MPs on Monday that it would be a “dereliction of duty” not to seek a new deal with the EU. The Prime Minister is expected to reiterate his argument from the Labour Party conference that Brexit has done “more harm than good” during a Commons address on Monday. He will call on all parties to support the Government’s approach in seeking a closer relationship with the EU, arguing that such a move could help control immigration and boost growth.
A No 10 source said: “Andy understands why some politicians don’t want to face up to the reality that Brexit has not delivered what they once promised. But it is time for a different conversation about what our long-term relationship should be.
“Sticking with the status quo and not working relentlessly to secure a good deal that boosts growth would be a major dereliction of duty.”
At the Labour conference in Liverpool last month, Mr Burnham said he would set out the “options” for Britain’s long-term relationship with Europe around the time of a UK-EU summit planned for the end of the year. He has suggested that those options could include rejoining the bloc.
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Mr Burnham is likely to be grilled on his comments that the UK is “clear” there was Russian interference in the Brexit referendum.
He said that when he entered No 10 in the summer, he had asked whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU and was given “the clear answer that yes there was”.
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The Prime Minister said he believes it is important to put this “clearly on the record” to help voters in Germany and France understand “some of this politics is instigated via our enemies”, amid the rise of far-right parties in those countries.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee found in 2020 that the Government failed to fully assess the impact Russian state-run media and “troll” accounts could have had on the EU referendum.
Mr Burnham, speaking to the Rest Is Politics podcast to be released on Monday, said he spoke to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about the threat from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party when they met in Berlin this week.
Nigel Farage announces bombshell deportation plan for Afghan and Palestinian migrants
Nigel Farage will announce hardline migration plans next week.
Nigel Farage announces bombshell deportation plan for Afghan and Palestinian migrants (Image: Getty)
Reform UK said it will deport anyone who arrived under Shabana Mahmood’s refugee resettlement scheme if the party is elected. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said he will “immediately end” the scheme when he announces the policy next Monday, along with several other immigration plans. The Home Secretary reopened the UK Resettlement Scheme for new referrals on September 28, to provide “genuine refugees a safe and legal route to the UK”. Around a quarter of referrals will be for Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees, fleeing war and persecution, Labour said.
However, speaking to The Telegraph ahead of his speech, Mr Farage said: “Britain is not obligated to take in more migrants, and under a Reform government, these people will not be able to stay.” His severe plans will also revoke residents’ right to remain if they are not considered to be in danger in their home country.
Nations from across the world would be affected. Migration Observatory estimates suggest between 622,000 and 820,000 non-EU citizens had settlement status at the end of 2024, which did not include the approximately 4million EU citizens who were living in the UK before January 2021, and hold settled or pre-settled status.
Mr Farage will also announce a review of Britain’s Afghan resettlement schemes and pledge to publish their costs next week. This was designed to resettle Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in exposed roles, as well as vulnerable individuals.
Reform has also escalated plans first announced in February for Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia. Mr Farage said Reform would impose tariffs on the countries if they refused to take back illegal immigrants and foreign criminals residing in the UK, speaking to The Times.
The party originally planned to impose strict visa bans for people legally seeking to visit the UK from these countries. Reform said it believes that tariffs may be more effective. The proposed list includes several of the countries with the largest numbers of asylum seekers in the UK in recent years.
Reform has plummeted in popularity after controversy surrounding its funding (Image: Getty)
The party will also conduct an audit of migration figures and publish a detailed breakdown of the number of people who have arrived in Britain since 2010, by nationality and route of entry.
Channel crossings have fallen this year. They reached a peak of around 46,000 in 2022. In the year ending June 2026, the number of detected arrivals fell to around 33,000.
Support for Reform has plummeted amid controversy over the party’s funding and a recovery in Labour’s popularity thanks to Andy Burnham’s arrival at Number 10. The party has fallen to second place in most polls, its lowest rating since December 2024.
