New EU industry rules would damage UK, warns Burnham

Andy Burnham has warned that planned EU rules to help European manufacturers would damage the UK, as he met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The proposals aim to protect EU industry from Chinese competitors by giving companies inside the bloc priority for public contracts and subsidies.

The prime minister said he was concerned about how British industry and supply chains could be affected, and raised the subject with von der Leyen when he met her during a UN summit in New York.

Speaking on the flight to the US, Burnham also declined to rule out committing to rejoining the EU in Labour's next manifesto, saying it was an issue "for another day".

He said his immediate priority was to rebuild the relationship with the EU and reach an agreement that would boost the British economy.

The Made In Europe scheme - formally called the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) - is yet to be finalised, but the EU's car industry has called for the UK to be included to prevent disruption to its supply chains.

Tensions over the proposed scheme have reportedly further delayed this year's planned EU-UK summit, which had already been postponed in the wake of Sir Keir Starmer's resignation as prime minister in July.

Burnham said: "We have considerable support among the member states for the position we are taking, because Europe's argument is not with us.

"We both suffer the same effects as other countries, particularly steel and the issue it raises for the steel industry in Europe and in Britain.

"We are making the argument 'we are not your enemies here… we are not the problem'. Made in Europe is dealing with a different problem.

"We are making the argument that 'let's avoid collateral damage'."

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Burnham told reporters his own speech to the UN General Assembly later would reflect on the decade since the Brexit vote and the "turbulence comes when outside actors seek to manipulate, to distort facts, influence the British democratic process".

"Going into the next decade, we need to be clear-eyed about that and become stronger and more on the front foot about challenging that," he said.

Asked if he would rule out making a pledge to rejoin the EU at the next general election, Burnham said: "Our focus at the moment is on a UK-EU summit which we hope will take place later this year.

"My immediate priority is to build on the good work that Keir [Starmer] did in rebuilding bridges, because those bridges were broken in the early part of this decade."

He added: "What we have got to do is now go to the next level in terms of reaching practical agreement that will further boost the British economy, and those issues are the substance of the summit alongside EU requests around youth mobility."

He said questions about rejoining the EU were for "another day".

Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton on Monday, the EU's new ambassador to the UK was asked whether the UK could rejoin the EU or be granted associate membership.

Jukka Salovaara said: "The doors are open but it's very much up to the UK public to identify and decide on its level of ambition when it comes to deepening cooperation with the EU."

Last September, Burnham said he would like to see the UK back in the EU in his lifetime.

Earlier this year, he said Brexit had been "damaging" but "the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments".

The EU has recently suggested Canada could become the bloc's first "associate member".

Asked if this could be an option for the UK, Burnham said: "The European Union made it clear that that wasn't open to us."

Additional reporting by Brian Wheeler

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