Andy Burnham says he will not try to return UK to EU

"My view is that Brexit has been damaging, but I also believe the last thing we should do right now is rerun those arguments. Andy Burnham has said he will not try to return the UK to the EU, saying Britain would be stuck in a permanent rut if we're just constantly arguing."

"Let's fix our own country. Let's get it working again. Let's get it back to where people want it to be. The comments came after his potential leadership rival Wes Streeting said the UK should rejoin the EU, his first big intervention since resigning as health secretary."

"I want to say sorry to the residents of the Makerfield constituency, for the circus that is about to arrive in town and some of the inconvenience they will experience as a result, he said. But on the other hand, I want to say this to them as well: I hope you feel it's a good thing as well, that the places that make up this constituency, long forgotten by national politics, finally are at the centre of the national debate."

"Burnham said he would make the argument that places such as Makerfield had been failed for four decades. The deindustrialisation of the 1980s was devastating for places across Makerfield. That was followed by deregulation, privatisation and austerity, he said. It all adds up to"

Brexit has caused damage, but the priority should not be to rerun arguments about rejoining the EU. A Greater Manchester mayor said he would not seek to return the UK to the EU, warning that constant debate would trap Britain in a permanent rut. His byelection campaign for Makerfield would keep a relentless domestic focus, aiming to get the country working again and bring neglected places into the national spotlight. He apologized for the disruption of the campaign while framing it as an opportunity for long-forgotten communities to shape the national debate. He said Makerfield and similar areas were failed for four decades, citing deindustrialisation in the 1980s followed by deregulation, privatisation, and austerity.

Read at www.theguardian.com