Revealed: Major poll showing that the public does NOT back rejoining on EU terms
Which Burnham Brexit policy do you want? Makerfield, Liverpool, or a BBC interview?
When the voters of Makerfield had a by-election foisted on them in order for Andy Burnham to get back into Parliament, the message they were given on Britain’s constitutional future was explicit. Campaigning in the traditional Northern constituency which had heavily supported leaving the EU a decade prior, Mr Burnham committed to moving on.
Stand for Our Sovereignty (SOS), together with colleagues at The think-thank Facts4EU and The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK.Org), have looked at what the Prime Minister actually said between the Makerfield by-election, the Labour Conference, and his post-Conference BBC interview. We then contrast this with some surprising poll results which the PM should definitely read. All of this has been shared exclusively with GB News.
Andy Burnham, in the run-up to Makerfield, at ‘the Great North Summit’, May 2026
“…the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments. I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU.
“I respect the decision that was made at the referendum and it is going to undermine everything I have said about strengthening democracy if we don’t respect that vote.”
Three months after the by-election
At the Labour Party Conference on 29 Sept 2026, Andy Burnham about-turned.
Andy Burnham at the Labour Party Conference 2026
“I cannot say to you truthfully that where we are is good enough.
“Brexit has done more harm than good.”
“So, I will take the opportunity around the summit to lay out to you… what I believe the different options are for Britain’s long-term relationship with our European partners.”
“Honesty is such a lonely word” (With apologies to Billy Joel)
A principle the Prime Minister set out strongly at the start of his speech was honesty with the public.
“I am going to give you a real speech.”
“Hope comes from honesty and we will have hope again. But first, honesty. It comes from saying the things politicians usually avoid.”
It is presently unclear how he can reconcile that principle with his betrayal on Brexit. Then it got worse. Apparently emboldened, the following day the Prime Minister did an interview on BBC Radio 4 and went further.
Andy Burnham on the BBC the next day
“We could look at what George Osborne has said about a Customs Union. We could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the Single Market or we could go all the way.”
Rt Hon Lord Redwood D.Phil FCSI, former Single Market Minister and former Secretary of State
commented exclusively to Stand for Our Sovereignty, Facts4EU and GB News
“Playing student politics with EU membership damages jobs, loses us investment and splits the country.
“Mr Burnham changes his messages as his audiences change, creating uncertainty and undermining his claim to a new honest politics. He clearly despises the democratic view expressed in referendums, as he wants to overturn both the EU one and the Voting system one in 2011 where 68% opposed change.”
“His attempted EU Re-Set would be a craven surrender to EU demands, whilst trying to rejoin would come with a huge unaffordable bill and more costly EU laws. If more laws and taxes brought growth and prosperity, we would have it by now. Getting closer to the EU means joining them in the slow growth lane of the world economy.”
What the public thinks
A great deal has been made of loosely-worded opinion polls on rejoining the EU. Rather less has been said about the real question Mr Burnham should be looking at.
The Prime Minister must know there is no hope the UK would be allowed to rejoin the EU with all the opt-outs it had while it was still a Member. Most opinion polls do not ask the public their opinion if the terms of re-joining had changed significantly.
When asked a question based on this reality, the British public’s answer is emphatic.
The Brexit polling answers that never made the headlines
Below are three of the results from a detailed and thorough opinion poll conducted by YouGov in the summer. These three questions – and the answers they evoked – did not make the news headlines. Perhaps this was because the public gave the ”wrong answers”.
These results are, however, fundamental to showing that when confronted by reality the British public is in fact against rejoining the EU.
1. Would you support rejoining on today’s terms, without all our opt-outs?
The full question: “If the only basis on which the European Union was willing to allow the UK to rejoin was that it would now have to participate in all major EU policy areas that the UK previously held opt-outs for (i.e. on top of all the previous EU rules, the UK would now also have to join the Euro, and have to participate in the Schengen passport-free travel zone), would you support or oppose the UK rejoining the European Union?”
2. Should the idea of revisiting the whole question even be the government’s priority?
Looking at the regular Ipsos and YouGov polling, rejoining the EU does not make the top 10 when Britons are asked to name the “most important issues facing the country” right now. Issues such as immigration, the NHS, the economy, the cost of living, and crime top the lists, but re-opening the Brexit debate just isn’t there.
The full question: “Balanced against other issues that the UK currently faces, do you think that the government attempting to bring the UK back into the European Union within the next five years would be the right or wrong priority at the current time?”
3. Finally, would being back in the EU make you better off?
It is often said that people vote in what they think are their own best financial interests. The answer to the final question highlighted below is therefore perhaps one which Mr Burnham may want to think about.
The full question: “If the UK were to rejoin the EU, do you think it would have an overall positive or negative impact on your household finances, or would it make no real difference?”
Data source: YouGov. In all cases above, the ‘Don’t Know’s’ have been excluded.
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Opposition from within Burnham’s own Cabinet
In all this uncertainty, it has become apparent that some of Mr Burnham’s own Ministers do not agree with his apparent pivot back to EU subservience. Just before the Conference, his Business Minister, Jonathan Reynolds, gave an inteview to the Telegraph.
The Business Secretary stated that business leaders had told him not to:
“return to the political uncertainty…” [but to] “…improve the relationship, exactly as we should do with any of our major trading partners, and at the same time, make the best of opportunities around the rest of the world”.
“I wouldn’t say all of our economic problems were solved by being in the European Union. I think you’ve got to look at the things that make the biggest difference. And I’m just absolutely certain what business wants and what the country needs is the direction we are currently on.”
Just two days later his leader, Andy Burnham, publicly contradicted this at the Conference.
Opposition Backlash
The rapid evolution in the Prime Minister’s position has drawn intense criticism from opposition benches and commentators
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage, Doncaster, 01 Oct 2026
“It’s extraordinary, isn’t it? … Well, the idea that a referendum on the European Union will bring unity – it will bring the opposite: complete division.”
“Any closer relationship, let alone rejoining the European Union, would hand powers back in the other way to an unaccountable organisation by which we couldn’t change a single law they make.
“So I find the whole thing hypocritical.”
Time for another U-turn, Mr Burnham?
If our new, popularity-seeking Prime Minister thought he was onto a vote-winner with his new policy of opening up the whole Brexit debate, our report today shows he should think again.
In our next report on Thursday, we will drive this message home with a hard-hitting report showing just how successful Brexit has been for the country. When the voters are presented with this stark reality, they may be even less-inclined to back Mr Burnham’s outdated opinions.
The Rt Hon the Lord Redwood D.Phil FCSI gave us his final comments
“Mr Burnham takes seriously the Lib Dem idea of joining the EU Customs Union. That would be a great way of putting up the cost of living and closing more UK factories.
“We would have to put tariffs back on food and goods imported from outside the EU. Industry would face tariffs on raw materials and components they need, making them less competitive. The UK would have to give up its free trade Agreements with India, Australia, New Zealand and the CPTPP and lose its vote and voice on the World Trade Organisation.”
“Full membership of the EU would mean a huge annual bill, no rebate, giving up the pound and sinking every business in the country with thousands of costly new laws. The EU is not going to offer us anything worth having. They see us as Treasure Island to plunder.”
Observations
Perhaps all we should do is remind Andy Burnham what he said in order to get elected as an MP only a few short months ago: “I respect the decision that was made at the referendum and it is going to undermine everything I have said about strengthening democracy if we don’t respect that vote.”. Yes, Mr Burnham, by suggesting you want to re-open a democratically-decided issue like Brexit – a ‘once in a generation decision’ – you are now undermining democracy.
It is our view the government is using Brexit as a shield to distract from domestic economic pressures, such as recent and upcoming tax rises and regulatory friction.
By floating alignment with EU rules on technology, state aid, financial structures, food and agriculture laws, carbon taxes, free movement for the EU’s young people to enter the UK, and joining the hugely-expensive erasmus scheme, the UK risks sacrificing its independent regulatory advantages – the very edge that has allowed its global services sector to outperform parts of the Eurozone – simply to ease diplomatic friction.
The transition from the doorsteps of Makerfield to the BBC microphones confirms that the post-Brexit settlement has been forcefully reopened. The Prime Minister’s ‘Re-Set’ is moving beyond a trade update into a fundamental reappraisal of Britain’s global position. For a country that spent years establishing independent control over its laws and borders, the strategic debate over our relationship with the EU has officially entered its next chapter.
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Please support our work
If more patriotic members of the public donate, we will keep going.
Please donate today to our research partner, Facts4eu, if you would like to continue reading us tomorrow, next week, and the weeks after.
[ Sources: Labour Party | YouGov | BBC interview | Nigel Farage in Rotherham | Daily Telegraph interview with Business Secretary | Great North Summit | The Rt Hon the Lord Redwood D.Phil FCSI ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.