NEWS · 25 July 2026
In his first week as prime minister, Andy Burnham has focused on leading a "cost of living government", scrapping VAT on electricity bills and capping bus fares.
But these welcome steps are peanuts when compared to the elephant in the room: Brexit. It is Brexit that lies behind the cost of living crisis, in the form of persistent inflation, as Bank of England economist Huw Pill pointed out recently.
So our message to the new prime minister is simple: you cannot fix the cost of living while ignoring its biggest self-inflicted cause. To really tackle the cost of living, we must rejoin the EU.
Will Burnham listen? There are some good signs. Last year he supported rejoining, saying "I hope in my lifetime I see this country rejoin the European Union."
He has not repeated this since becoming prime minister, and Labour's infamous 'red lines' are still in place – for now.
But Burnham's choices of ministers are early signs of a shift compared to the Starmer government and its weak 'Brexit resets'. And he will be keenly aware, as he makes daily spending commitments, that the EU by far is the fastest route to get Britain's economy moving again.
When rejoining the EU has 60%+ support in public polls, when the government cannot solve the cost of living crisis without our European friends, and the prime minister has been sympathetic in the recent past... it feels like a moment of renewed opportunity.
This is our moment to make the case and win the argument, first with the public and then with the politicians, that there is only one real answer to the cost of living crisis – to rejoin.
Stay European
