Prime Minister’s comments raise fears of climbdown on European students’ fees at British universities
Daily Telegraph 24/08/26
Britain must be bolder to get closer to the EU, Andy Burnham has said.
The Prime Minister, who has previously said he would like to rejoin the EU, told António Costa, the president of the European Council, that the country “had to be bolder in terms of getting closer to the bloc”.
He also promised during discussions with senior EU figures to forge deeper relations on education, culture, defence and security.
Mr Burnham’s comments will raise fears that, to achieve a broader “Brexit reset” deal with the bloc, he may agree to reduce tuition fees for EU students at British universities.
The Telegraph reported in June that Sir Keir Starmer had agreed to the concession to secure closer economic ties. However, his plans were shelved after he announced his resignation as prime minister.
A Downing Street spokesman said that, in a discussion with Luc Frieden, Luxembourg’s prime minister, Mr Burnham had “agreed on the important cultural and educational ties between the UK and Europe to deliver opportunity for the next generation of Brits and Europeans”.
The spokesman said: “The Prime Minister set out his ambitions for the UK to get closer to the European Union.”
He and Mr Frieden met while travelling on a night train to Kyiv, on what was the Prime Minister’s first international visit since taking office.
Mr Burnham also met Mr Costa on his journey to Ukraine, where he arrived on Monday morning to underline Britain’s support for the country in the ongoing war with Russia.
The Downing Street spokesman said: “Turning to the UK’s relationship with the European Union, the two leaders underlined the importance of being ambitious to drive a step change in relations.
“The UK had to be bolder in terms of getting closer to the bloc, the Prime Minister said. That included building on the close defence and security ties already forged between the UK and European allies to drive greater cooperation across all areas of the relationship,” he added.
It was the second set of talks between Mr Burnham and Mr Costa since the Labour leader took office.
Discussions on closer EU relations began under Sir Keir. Just days before he announced he was leaving office, he unveiled plans for a “EU reset” conference in Brussels on July 22.
But the summit was postponed when Mr Burnham took over as prime minister.
At the Labour Party conference last September, he told the Guardian: “Long-term, I’m going to be honest, I’m going to say it, I want to rejoin it. Look, I hope in my lifetime I see this country rejoin the European Union.”
However, when he stood in the heavily pro-Brexit Makerfield seat in June, he rowed back on these comments.
He later said he “respected” the decision of voters a decade ago, adding: “I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU.
“I respect the decision that was made at the referendum and it is going to undermine everything I have said about strengthening democracy if we don’t respect that vote.”
With regard to accessing UK universities, Brussels has made matching the costs of European students with UK students a central demand in talks over a deal. The move, part of a youth mobility scheme, would cut fees for EU students from £38,000 to £9,535, in line with British undergraduates.
UK and EU officials are planning to hold an in-person summit between the two leaders and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president, in October, after the party conference season.
The gathering, scheduled to be held in Brussels, was originally organised for July, but was delayed after Sir Keir announced his resignation.
At the meeting, London and Brussels are expected to sign off on deals to align trade rules on food, drink and energy, to remove cross-Channel bureaucracy. It will also be used to finalise the youth mobility scheme, in which as many as 100,000 Europeans could be given the right to work, study and live in the UK, and vice versa.
British officials have been pushing to use any concessions over the programme to gain greater access to the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act to help European industry compete with cheap Asian imports.
The UK wants British products covered by the scheme, such as electric vehicles and other green technologies, to qualify as “Made in Europe”.
Manufacturers in this country have warned they risk being excluded from EU supply chains should they not be granted full access to the scheme.
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