Reynolds opens the door to Brussels talks on freedom of movement

British and European officials will discuss the future options for the UK's relationship with the EU, the Business Secretary has said, with free movement among the possibilities to be examined before the EU summit on 20 November. Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC that no assumptions had been made about what the relationship with Brussels could eventually look like. Downing Street, however, insisted the government's current focus was on securing new deals in areas such as food and youth mobility at the summit.

The disclosure follows remarks by Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who has called for an honest discussion about the prospect of returning to free movement between the UK and the EU. The prime minister has been clear that any major change to the relationship would require a mandate at a general election, due by 2029, and has vowed to stick by the red lines in Labour's 2024 manifesto for the duration of this parliamentary session: no return to freedom of movement, the single market or the customs union.

Freedom of movement, which allows EU citizens to travel, live, study and work in any member country, is a precondition of membership of the single market, which enables goods, services and people to move freely between member states, with countries applying many common rules and standards. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Reynolds said discussions ahead of the summit concerned food and drink, electricity and emissions trading. "What the prime minister has also said, quite rightly, is we face a series of policy changes on the European side that will affect us," he said. "We need to get as little uncertainty as possible, we need to have a way to resolve what our long-term relationship will be and he is going to set that out after the summit."

Pressed on whether British officials were talking to the EU about freedom of movement, Reynolds replied: "They will be talking to them about what the future options for our relationship might be. But here and now, the focus should be on the summit and the tangible difference improvements we're going to make." A government spokesman stressed there were no current discussions on freedom of movement, adding that ministers were working with the EU within the manifesto red lines.

Burnham is far more willing to hold a public conversation about Brexit than his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, whose government was nervous about reopening a debate that proved so contentious. Some in the Labour Party had urged Sir Keir to go further, and there is a widely held view that Burnham's comments will go down well with voters tempted by the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. Yet there is nervousness among Labour MPs with small majorities in Brexit-supporting, Reform-facing constituencies. Melanie Onn, whose Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes seat backed leaving the EU, told the Today programme that Burnham risked losing trust by talking about going beyond the 2024 manifesto at a future election. "I don't think that the scars have healed for many people around the country so I do think this is an unnecessary conversation to be having at this time," she said. Onn, who lost her seat in 2019 and won it back in 2024, warned: "Trust is incredibly important, it's hard-earned and easily lost, and on this matter I think that we should tread incredibly carefully."

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, told BBC Breakfast that Burnham had no mandate to be in Brussels negotiating any of this, and called on the prime minister to put his ideas to the public at a general election. On Monday, Burnham left the door open to a potential referendum on freedom of movement with the EU. The prime minister caused some confusion when he told broadcasters he would not reintroduce free movement without a referendum, but Downing Street later said no decisions had been made on whether a public vote would be needed. The Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, told the BBC on Sunday that no options for the UK's future relationship could be taken off the table.

Burnham did, however, appear to draw red lines of his own, telling the Sunday Times that he would not favour the UK joining the euro or the border-free Schengen zone. The fact that the prime minister has not been willing to say the same about free movement is being seen in Westminster as evidence that he believes it remains a genuine option.