French President Emmanuel Macron reacted Wednesday to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham floating the idea of Britain rejoining the European Union by saying in English: “Welcome back.”
Burnham, prime minister since July after Labour MPs turfed out Keir Starmer, said in an interview broadcast earlier on Wednesday that rejoining the EU was among the potential answers to the unavoidable question of what Britain’s future relationship with Europe could look like.
Burnham, prime minister since July after Labour MPs turfed out Keir Starmer, said in an interview broadcast earlier on Wednesday that rejoining the EU was among the potential answers to the unavoidable question of what Britain’s future relationship with Europe could look like. The French president also pointed to the limits of the UK seeking closer ties with the EU while remaining outside the bloc, a decade after the Brexit vote.
“If the British want to come back and if the prime minister is moving in that direction, I think that is very good news both for his country and for Europeans,” Macron added in French at a news conference in Madrid. “Come back,” he added, standing alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. His comments came after he told his ruling Labour Party’s annual conference that he would set out “different options” for future ties with the European Union closer to a planned summit with the bloc later this year. Macron said the British had “always been useful in helping us simplify things” when the UK was part of the EU and were “demanding partners”.
