Andy Burnham has put the UK's long-term EU relationship back on the political agenda, promising a 'serious dialogue' once the immediate business of the autumn summit is done. The prime minister said the existing arrangement is simply 'not good enough' for Britain, framing the argument around growth and immigration control rather than revisiting the Brexit divide.

A 'clear-eyed rational look' beyond Labour's red lines

Burnham told MPs that Britain must take a 'clear-eyed rational look' at its long-term relationship with the bloc, with boosting growth and controlling immigration as the tests any new settlement must meet. He argued it would be a 'major dereliction of duty' for his government to turn away from exploring closer relations.

On the question of free movement, he was direct with the Commons.

• •A return to free movement is 'not on the table', he told MPs
• •He said he would honour Keir Starmer's manifesto red lines
• •But he could not rule out revisiting the question after an election

He urged MPs across the chamber to rally behind the government's push for a good result: 'We should not turn our backs on this opportunity and I hope all sides of this house will get behind'.

His sequencing is deliberate: 'Our immediate priority is securing a successful outcome at the summit, and I believe we should then set up a serious dialogue' on long-term options for the relationship.

What is on the table at the 20 November summit

The next 'reset' summit takes place on 20 November. Three deals are lined up for signature: agreements on food and drink, youth mobility and emissions trading, which Burnham hopes could provide a £10bn-a-year boost to the economy.

The mood on the EU side is conditional. An EU diplomat said the three deals needed to be approved as a test of the UK's good faith so that both sides could get on with the 'real reset'. Sources on both sides believe a food and phytosanitary agreement would have been reached in July if the summit had gone ahead on its original date.

Two sticking points remain unresolved:

• •A transition period for UK grain grown with recently approved fungicides not yet licensed in the EU
• •The youth mobility programme, which would allow EU and British citizens under 30 to live, work or study in each other's countries for up to three years, with disagreements over numbers and tuition fees at British universities

Wider cooperation gaps also persist. The UK is excluded from Eurodac, the database holding biometric and ID data for identifying asylum seekers and irregular migrants, and has exited the Dublin regulation, the legal mechanism for returning refugees to the first European country they entered or transited.

The Made in Europe row

Away from the summit agenda, the UK is braced for a possible row over protectionist 'Made in Europe' trade rules, with industry fearing they could exclude UK manufacturers. The initiative is aimed primarily at imports from China in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, nuclear and electric cars, but would block British-made components in EU supply chains.

Burnham acknowledged that Made in Europe presented 'risks' to British manufacturing. He argued both sides share the same problem and need a joint answer.

Diplomatically, the UK has the support of the Netherlands, Poland and Italy for inclusion in the scheme, but France poses a stumbling block. EU sources insisted no agreement on Made in Europe is possible at the summit, because the bloc has not yet agreed its own position; EU lawmakers hope to agree a position on the key proposal, the Industrial Accelerator Act, in December.

The Brexit interference clarification

The prime minister's EU intervention came with a domestic controversy attached. Burnham had claimed on a Sunday podcast that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum, without disclosing who gave him the assessment, what evidence it was based on, or whether it affected the result. He was subsequently forced to clarify that he did not think Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit campaign had affected the final result.

Before MPs, he defended the underlying point: 'It is a matter of record that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 general election, and we think it is inconceivable' that 2016 was the first time. He rejected suggestions from Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, that he may have been loose with his language.

Downing Street said the prime minister 'absolutely' accepted the Brexit referendum result and believed it to be legitimate. Foreign minister Stephen Doughty said it was clear Russia had attempted to interfere but had failed. For his part, Burnham denied he was reopening the Brexit debate, insisting he did respect the referendum result and wanted a 'pragmatic approach' on cooperation over growth and migration.

The immediate next step is the 20 November summit, where approval of the three deals is seen by EU diplomats as a test of UK good faith before any longer-term 'real reset' begins.