Burnham Told MPs Free Movement Was a ‘Race to the Bottom’. Now He Wants an ‘Honest Discussion’ About It

News | By Matt, Editor

Ten years ago, Andy Burnham stood up in the House of Commons and told MPs: “There is nothing socialist about a system of open borders that allows multinationals to treat people as commodities and to move them around Europe to drive down labour costs and create a race to the bottom.” (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

Today he is Prime Minister, and he wants an “honest discussion” about the prospect of returning to free movement with the EU. (BBC News) His Business Secretary confirmed on Tuesday that British officials will talk to Brussels about “the future options for our relationship” before the 20 November summit. The BBC reports those options include free movement. (BBC News)

A clip of the 2016 speech has been seen more than 81,000 times on X since Monday night. (X) Here is exactly what he said, and what he says now.

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What Burnham told the Commons in 2016

The speech came on 7 December 2016, in the Commons debate “The Government’s Plan for Brexit”, six months after the referendum. Burnham was then Labour MP for Leigh and his party’s candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester. That night MPs backed the Government’s plan to trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017. (Hansard, 7 December 2016; The Guardian)

He began with the Leave vote in his own region: “The 700,000 people in Greater Manchester who voted to leave, many of them lifelong Labour voters, voted for change on immigration. I am clear about that, and it has to be our starting point in this debate.” (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

Then he ruled out the status quo: “The status quo—full free movement—was defeated at the ballot box, so it is not an option.” (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

Asked by an SNP MP whether free movement had even been on the ballot paper, he replied that anyone who said voters were not voting for change on free movement and immigration “simply was not listening to them”. (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

He then admitted Labour had looked away: “Free movement was being used to undermine skilled wages and we did not do enough about it. We have to be honest about that.” (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

“The left across Europe has got to break out of its paralysis on this issue. The fear of being labelled as “pandering” stops people entering the debate, but it also stops progressive ideas that meet the public’s concerns and leaves the pitch clear for those with right-wing solutions.”

Andy Burnham, House of Commons, 7 December 2016 (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

And he put the case against free movement in economic terms: “In an era of increasing globalisation, free movement has arguably been providing greater benefit to large companies than it has to the most deprived communities. There is nothing socialist about a system of open borders that allows multinationals to treat people as commodities and to move them around Europe to drive down labour costs and create a race to the bottom.” (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

He also said that places such as Leigh “do not think that it is fair that the country’s least well-off communities should expect pressure on wages, housing, public services, primary schools and GP services without any help to manage it.” (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

What the viral clip gets wrong

The post sharing the clip says Burnham was “explaining in 2016 that the free movement of people has destroyed jobs in the UK”. (X) He did not say that. He said free movement had been used to “undermine skilled wages”, that it drove “a race to the bottom” on labour costs, and that it was not working for the more deprived parts of the country. (Hansard, 7 December 2016) That is what the record shows, and it is damaging enough.

What Burnham says now

25 October 2026, Sunday Times interview. Burnham said he would welcome an “honest discussion” about returning to free movement, and that a new relationship could mean joining the single market or full EU membership. (BBC News; The Guardian) We covered it at the time.

26 October. Asked by broadcasters whether he could bring in free movement without a referendum, he said “no”, and that he would “never move ahead of the British public when it comes to Brexit”. Within hours No 10 said the Prime Minister “isn’t proposing a return to freedom of movement or any option” and is “crucially not leaning either way”. His deputy spokeswoman added: “The PM thinks the Brexit deal is not good enough.” (BBC News)

27 October. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio 4 that officials “will be talking to them about what the future options for our relationship might be”. (BBC News) At the lobby briefing, a No 10 spokeswoman said current talks were “focused solely on next month’s summit” and that the Prime Minister “will set out the next steps when it comes to our longer term relationship around the time of the summit”. (The Guardian) We set out the full timeline in yesterday’s report on the free movement talks.

Burnham says he will keep Labour’s 2024 manifesto red lines, including no return to free movement, for this parliament, which ends by 2029, and that any big change would need a general election mandate. (BBC News)

The same words, ten years apart

In December 2016 Burnham told MPs: “It is time to move beyond the re-running of the referendum arguments and accept what people voted for.” (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

In May 2026, campaigning in the Makerfield by-election, he said: “The last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments… I respect the decision that was made at the referendum.” (BBC News)

Four months later he told Labour conference Brexit had done “more harm than good” and said a referendum pledge in a future manifesto was “possible”. (BBC News; BBN) Five months after Makerfield, he wants an honest discussion about free movement.

What changed? Burnham’s own answer

Burnham has given a reason. In the Sunday Times interview he argued that the type of migration had changed since Brexit, with more people now moving to Britain permanently, while EU migration had been “generally younger people” who spent a few years here and went home. He also said: “I can’t see myself ever recommending anything that would involve joining the euro or Schengen.” (BBC News)

That is his case, and readers can weigh it. But it does not answer what he told the Commons in 2016: that free movement was being used to undercut skilled wages, and that it suited big companies more than poorer towns. (Hansard, 7 December 2016) Labour’s 2024 manifesto was just as clear: “There will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement.” (Labour Party)

Keir Starmer told MPs in May 2025 that the red line existed because “at the heart of that referendum, or one of the key issues, was freedom of movement”. (Hansard, 20 May 2025) Reform UK’s Richard Tice has called for net zero immigration rather than a return to free movement, as we reported, and Nigel Farage says Burnham “has no mandate to be in Brussels, to be negotiating any of this”. (RTÉ)

The fair points

The 2016 speech was not a call to shut the door. In the same speech Burnham said he wanted a system that “allows greater control and that reduces the numbers coming here, but that does so in a fair way”, one that “treats all migrants equally, that does not allow people’s wages to be undercut… and, crucially, that continues to welcome people from Europe and around the world to work here”. He said the answers should be “based on hope, not hate”. (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

He also said his preference had been “to work within the EU to fix those problems”, and that he did not want anyone to claim Leave voters in places like Leigh were “in any way xenophobic or racist”. (Hansard, 7 December 2016) He was speaking in a Labour Party divided over immigration after the referendum. The Guardian reported his words as an apparent dig at frontbenchers including Diane Abbott. (The Guardian)

Today he has not proposed bringing free movement back, No 10 says he is “not leaning either way”, and he says big changes need a general election mandate. (BBC News; BBC News)

Key facts

• 7 December 2016: Burnham tells MPs full free movement “was defeated at the ballot box” and is “not an option”. (Hansard, 7 December 2016)
• 13 June 2024: Labour’s manifesto promises “no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement”. (Labour Party)
• 18 May 2026: In Makerfield, Burnham says “the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments”. (BBC News)
• 25 October 2026: As Prime Minister he calls for an “honest discussion” about returning to free movement. (BBC News)
• 26 October 2026: No 10 says he is “not leaning either way”. (BBC News)
• 27 October 2026: Reynolds says officials will discuss “future options” with the EU before the summit. (BBC News)
• 20 November 2026: UK-EU summit in Brussels, where No 10 says Burnham will set out “next steps”. (The Guardian)

Verdict

This is opinion, built on the record above.

In 2016 Andy Burnham said what millions of Leave voters had been saying for years: that free movement was a good deal for big business and a bad deal for the workers whose wages it undercut. He said the Left had to break its “paralysis”. He said full free movement had been “defeated at the ballot box”. Ten years on, with the keys to Downing Street, he wants a “discussion” about bringing it back, and his officials are talking to Brussels about “future options”. What changed between 2016 and now? Not the wages in Leigh. Labour’s own words are the best case against Labour’s new direction, and voters who backed Brexit are entitled to ask which Andy Burnham they are dealing with.

More on Burnham and Brussels: Burnham admits he wants Britain back in the EU and Burnham blames lost EU returns for the boats.

Frequently asked questions

Did Andy Burnham say free movement destroyed jobs?

No. In the Commons on 7 December 2016 he said free movement “was being used to undermine skilled wages” and that open borders let multinationals “drive down labour costs and create a race to the bottom”. (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

When did Burnham make the “race to the bottom” speech?

On 7 December 2016, in the Commons debate “The Government’s Plan for Brexit”, when he was Labour MP for Leigh. (Hansard, 7 December 2016)

Does Burnham now support free movement?

He has not proposed it. He wants an “honest discussion” about returning to it, and No 10 says he is “not leaning either way”. He says he will keep Labour’s red lines until the next election, due by 2029. (BBC News; BBC News)

Are UK officials discussing free movement with the EU?

Reynolds says officials will discuss “future options” for the relationship before the 20 November summit, and the BBC reports these include free movement. No 10 says current talks are focused solely on the summit. (BBC News; The Guardian)

Sources

• Hansard, House of Commons, 7 December 2016: The Government’s Plan for Brexit
• Parallel Parliament (Hansard extract), 7 December 2016: Andy Burnham extracts from The Government’s Plan for Brexit
• The Guardian, 7 December 2016: Keir Starmer presses for ‘detailed’ plan as MPs vote to trigger article 50
• X, 26 October 2026: Viral clip of Burnham’s 2016 speech
• BBC News, 25 October 2026: Burnham open to ‘honest discussion’ on EU free movement
• The Guardian, 25 October 2026: Cabinet ministers back Burnham’s call for debate on return to free movement with EU
• BBC News, 26 October 2026: No 10 appears to backtrack on PM’s freedom of movement referendum suggestion
• BBC News, 27 October 2026: UK and EU officials to discuss freedom of movement
• The Guardian, 27 October 2026: UK officials discussing options including free movement with EU ahead of summit
• The Guardian politics live, 27 October 2026: No 10 says Burnham to set out ‘next steps’ for long-term relations with EU
• RTÉ, 27 October 2026: Burnham has ‘no mandate’ to reopen Brexit debate – Farage
• BBC News, 30 September 2026: Brexit referendum ‘possible’ in Labour election manifesto, says Andy Burnham
• BBC News live, 18 May 2026: Burnham pledges not to ‘re-run’ Brexit arguments
• Hansard, 20 May 2025: UK-EU Summit
• Labour Party, 2024: Manifesto: Britain reconnected