August 5, 2026
Brex-it, stage left
'I want to rejoin the EU Brexit has been a disaster' – Andy Burnham
Burnham says Brexit was a wreck — and the comments instantly turned into a blame game
TLDR: Andy Burnham called Brexit a disaster and said he hopes Britain rejoins the European Union one day. Commenters split between cheering his honesty and questioning his timing, while others mocked the old border-control promise as one of Brexit’s biggest own goals.
Andy Burnham has thrown a political firecracker into the room by saying he wants Britain to rejoin the European Union and calling Brexit a straight-up "disaster". He says leaving made the economy weaker, growth slower, and even immigration control worse — a brutal twist for a project sold to voters as “taking back control.” But online, the real show wasn’t just Burnham’s words. It was the comment section, where people arrived with receipts, rage, and a lot of “well, obviously.”
Some readers were fully on team Burnham, basically yelling “finally, someone said it out loud!” One commenter sighed that if only current national leaders would be this direct. Another said it may not be too late to fix the damage. But others were already side-eyeing the timing, accusing the post of being misleading because Burnham made the remarks as Manchester mayor, not as prime minister, and before facing tougher electoral pressure. In other words: was this brave honesty or convenient positioning?
Then came the hottest take of all: that Brexit may have helped the EU more than the UK, because watching Britain struggle scared off anti-European movements in other countries. Ouch. And the darkest little punchline in the thread? The border-control promise that powered Brexit has become a running joke, with commenters pointing out that irregular arrivals increased after leaving. The vibe was clear: part frustration, part dunk-fest, part “how are we still arguing about this?”
Key Points
- •Andy Burnham said he wants the UK to rejoin the European Union and hopes it happens during his lifetime.
- •He made the remarks on the sidelines of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.
- •Burnham described Brexit as a "disaster" and said it had contributed to sluggish growth and made national aspirations harder to achieve.
- •He said there is no realistic prospect of the UK rejoining the EU in the near term.
- •Burnham argued that Brexit had weakened immigration control by replacing short-term EU migration with long-term migration from outside the EU.