Downing Street sought to temper speculation about the United Kingdom rejoining the EU single market after Andy Burnham suggested such a step would need approval in a referendum. The prime minister has previously said he wants a public debate on how Britain might develop a closer relationship with the EU, but No 10 has signalled it is not advancing a policy to re-enter the single market.
Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, expanded on remarks he made earlier on Good Morning Britain while speaking at a rough sleeping summit hosted at Downing Street. He argued that allowing people to remain homeless imposes avoidable costs on public services and taxpayers.
"We’ve also got to be conscious when we speak to the rest of the country, the taxpayers of this country, that actually to leave people sleeping rough has financial consequences," Burnham said. "It doesn’t work for anybody and it doesn’t work for the public purse, because if you leave people in a position where they are in and out of A&E, and in and out of a hospital bed, that doesn’t make sense for anybody."
He added that there was a "rock-solid business case to do something to end homelessness, to put people on a path to recovery, so that they can contribute once again," and said that argument should inform public discussion about policy and spending.
Opponents seized on Burnham’s spending plans and record in Greater Manchester. "Burnham is throwing another £432m at a problem he failed to solve in Greater Manchester," one critic said, arguing that Labour’s response amounted to more taxpayer money and unkept promises. The mayor’s comments at the summit underscore tensions within national politics between calls for greater social spending and scrutiny from political rivals over costs and effectiveness.
Downing Street’s response on the single market and the debate over homelessness funding reflect two contemporaneous threads in UK political discussion: the future relationship with the EU and domestic pressures on public services and social policy. Both issues are likely to shape exchanges between parties and public debate in the weeks ahead.