Brexit wars reopened: Burnham retreats on wanting to return to EU after Streeting sets out intention to rejoin
The debate was sparked by Mr Streeting over the weekend who described Brexit as a "catastrophic mistake"
Andy Burnham has appeared to distance himself on calling for the UK to rejoin the European Union after Wes Streeting said he would seek a mandate to reopen the Brexit battle.
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The Greater Manchester Mayor, who will stand to become Labour MP in Makerfield, has previously stated his preference for Britain to return to the EU.
But on Saturday evening Mr Burnham claimed he was "not advocating" the case for rejoining during his campaigning to win the seat in the constituency, which voted leave in 2016.
Mr Burnham has in the past said he respects the will of the British people on Brexit, and any move to rejoin the EU could only come if a fresh mandate had been secured.
Josh Simons, MP for Makerfield, announced on Thursday that he would step aside so that Mr Burnham could try to secure a spot in Parliament and, eventually, challenge the Prime Minister's position.
The apparent change in stance comes after Wes Streeting told reporters that leaving the EU was a "catastrophic mistake", adding that Britain needed a new "special relationship" with the treaty.
The former health secretary confirmed on Saturday he will stand to run in any Labour leadership contest if one were to be triggered.
Speaking publicly for the first time since quitting Government on Thursday, Mr Streeting told the conference that because "Britain's future lies with Europe, and one day back in the European Union".
Jostling over Labour’s future direction on Europe began as the party debates how to move on from its bruising election defeats last week which left Sir Keir Starmer under mounting pressure.
Moving closer to Europe was the first of three major policy ideas Mr Streeting floated, with him adding: "The voters did more than send Labour a message last week, they issued a warning: that unless we change course, we risk being the handmaidens of Nigel Farage and the breakup of the United Kingdom."
He called for a "proper contest" to replace the PM, as he and other senior Labour figures made their pitch to oust his former ally.
Mr Streeting said: We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I’ll be standing."
However, his comments were described by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy as "quite odd" on Sunday.
Ms Nandy told LBC that rejoining the EU as being Labour's answer to the beating it took in the local elections misses "the point completely".
Speaking to Lewis Goodall, Ms Nandy said: "I know that Wes is coming up to campaign in the by-election.
"I think he'll hear from people loud and clear across Ashton, Winstanley and other parts of Makerfield that that is absolutely not the case.
"The sorts of issues that the Prime Minister has been talking about, about job, living standards, housing, opportunities for young people to stay and contribute in the places that they call home and not have to get out to get on high streets, all of those things are actually far more fundamental.
"I think moving closer to the EU helps us with that. But going back to 2016 and going round in circles again about rejoining seems to me to have missed the point completely."