Burnham blames Brexit for low growth hours after praising post-Brexit trade deal

The Prime Minister used his first major Commons speech to attack Brexit and Margaret Thatcher, prompting accusations he is "stuck in the past" rather than governing the present.

Andy Burnham blamed Britain's departure from the European Union for the country's low growth in remarks to Parliament. The timing was notable: the criticism came just hours after Labour ministers had celebrated a new trade agreement that was only possible because the UK left the EU. The Guardian reported constituents in Keir Starmer's former seat describing Burnham as "sensible", while GB News noted Reform UK is preparing to contest the coming by-election in Holborn and St Pancras.

The contradiction sits at the centre of Labour's economic position. The party campaigned against Brexit, now governs outside the EU, and has spent six years unable to settle on a vocabulary that acknowledges both realities. Burnham's Commons debut reached for the old script - Brexit as the original sin, Thatcherism as the lasting wound - while his Cabinet celebrates wins that flow directly from the decision he is still litigating. It's governing and campaigning at the same time, in the same breath.

The question is whether the analysis or the celebration represents the administration's actual view - and whether voters who backed Leave in Labour's northern strongholds will tolerate a Prime Minister who treats their choice as a mistake while claiming credit for its consequences.