𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham has been warned against striking a Norway-style deal with the EU by the country’s premier. Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre said the UK should not follow his nation’s example by signing up to free market access without being a full member as you become rule-taker.

He told Politico: “After Brexit, British friends called me and said, tell us about the Norwegian way of doing it. And I said, if you left the EU because there was too much Brussels, don’t take the Norwegian version. Because here, you know, basically we are taking most of their decisions, we implement them.”

It comes as the Prime Minister is due to sign a series of deals with the EU later this month at a joint summit in Brussels. And Mr Burnham, who has said he wants to see Britain rejoin in his lifetime, is looking at options for the long-term relationship with the bloc.

However, any major change would have to come after the next general election, as he has committed to Labour’s 2024 red lines of not returning to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement. Speaking over the weekend, he told the Mirror: “It pays to have a good relationship with your neighbours, and the practical deals we are agreeing with Europe will pay off for families across the UK

“Cutting red tape on food coming in and out of the country will ease pressure on prices at the supermarket, while making life easier for farmers and food producers. This summit will show what we can achieve when we work together, but it doesn’t need to be the end of our ambition.

“Working more closely with Europe could drive growth, make our country safer and give us more tools to tackle illegal migration. That’s a conversation worth having.”

But the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has insisted there would be “no cherry-picking”.

Referring to the four freedoms of goods, movement of people, services and capital, he told the BBC: “There will be no possibility to have one freedom and not the other.

“The four freedoms are clearly the four conditions to be inside the single market.”