'We had a referendum': Chancellor John Healey appears at odds with Andy Burnham over Brexit, exposing a Cabinet split
Andy Burnham and Kemi Badenoch clash at PMQs as Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds refused to give his personal view on free movement, offering only "the Government line.Chancellor John Healey acknowledged the current Brexit deal "has not been good for Britain over the last decade" but stopped short of endorsing rejoining the EU as the remedy.
Chancellor John Healey publicly diverged from Andy Burnham's Brexit position on Budget day, telling LBC "we had a referendum, we're out of the European Union" and flatly rejecting the idea that UK growth would be stronger inside the EU or single market. The intervention came just hours after Burnham had instructed Cabinet ministers to remain quiet on Brexit under collective responsibility rules, warning that anyone who broke ranks would have to resign. The rift laid bare how sharply Burnham's abrupt push to reopen the EU question has strained his own government.
Burnham has floated the possibility that Labour's next manifesto would put EU membership back to a public vote and has called for an 'honest discussion' on freedom of movement.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Health Secretary Yvette Cooper have been identified as Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers alarmed by the direction.
Healey did concede Brexit 'has certainly hit our level of trade' and acknowledged the Tory deal 'has not been good for Britain over the last decade'.
