Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has confirmed that UK-EU free movement talks of a kind are under way: British officials have opened discussions with the European Union about what a long-term relationship might look like, one that could include a return to free movement. He said the immediate priority, however, is narrower - the EU summit in November, where the government hopes to seal an agreement easing some trading restrictions and securing a youth mobility deal.

What the negotiations cover

Reynolds, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said officials will talk to their EU counterparts about future options for the relationship, but stressed that the summit is where attention now lies. The changes expected there, he argued, would deliver real gains:

• •an agreement to ease some trading restrictions
• •a deal on food and drink
• •an emissions trading agreement
• •a youth mobility deal between the UK and the EU

Together, he said, these would make a significant difference, and the prime minister wants minimal uncertainty from European policy changes. Reynolds added that a way must be found to resolve the long-term relationship, and that the prime minister is going to set that out after the summit, being frank about the trade-offs involved.

Voters 'are the boss'

Any move towards restoring free movement would not happen without the public having a say, the Business Secretary said, though he did not specify whether that would come through a general election or a referendum.

Backbench and Reform UK unease

The remarks have unsettled some in Reynolds's own party. A number of Labour backbenchers holding heavily pro-Brexit seats in the north and Midlands are wary about reopening the arguments over free movement or rejoining the EU.

Melanie Onn, the Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, urged caution, saying she is still not over the divisive debate that surrounded the referendum and believes the scars have not healed for many people. "So I do think that this is an unnecessary conversation to be having at this time," she said.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage went further, saying it would be "very, very poor indeed" to begin discussing freedom of movement. He accused the prime minister of breaking promises: "Five months ago, Andy Burnham says to leave-voting Makerfield: 'I'm not going to reopen these arguments.'"

Farage also noted that two and a half years earlier Labour won its majority pledging not to re-enter the single market, the customs union or the free movement debate, and said the prime minister has no mandate. "To hear that his officials are negotiating in Brussels already is really very, very poor indeed," he said.

Burnham's case for an honest discussion

The talks follow the prime minister's own intervention. Andy Burnham made a plea for an "honest discussion" about freedom of movement in an interview with the Sunday Times, saying that staying out would no longer be a red line in EU negotiations.

Burnham argued that rejoining the single market and accepting free movement could be achieved without another referendum, provided Labour put it in its manifesto. Fully rejoining the EU, he said, would require another in-out referendum.

On free movement itself, he acknowledged it presents significant challenges but suggested it is a form of immigration perhaps less difficult than today's. "Revolving-door migration where people would come and then go back is different," he said, adding: "The balance of migration has changed, hasn't it, since then? I think we've just got to have an honest discussion about those things."

Reynolds said the prime minister will set out the long-term approach to the EU after the November summit, being frank about the trade-offs.