Ever-closer relations with the EU back on UK agenda

New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his politics might not be to everyone’s taste but, whatever one thinks of him, in his short time in office he has demonstrated a combination of boldness, vision and political astuteness. Nowhere is this more evident than in his determination to put relations with the EU back at the heart of his foreign policy agenda.

At first glance, this might look like political suicide. A decade after the British people had their say in a referendum and voted, albeit by a narrow margin, to leave the EU, few would relish revisiting the years of acrimony, both at home and with Brussels, that preceded the UK’s eventual departure at the end of 2020.