𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

I could call the PM a fibber or accuse him of gaslighting voters. But I think he’s gone beyond that. So let’s be forensic and look at his exact words. Burnham’s promise came in May, when he was fighting his way back into Westminster in the Makerfield by-election. He told voters: “Brexit has been damaging, but I also believe the last thing we should do right now is rerun those arguments.” I agree. Britain has enough problems without reopening the most divisive political argument of recent years. But has he stuck to his word?

In September, Burnham said Britain had a choice. It could stay as it is, pursue a customs union, join the single market or “go all the way” and rejoin the EU. He also made his personal position clear. He would like to see Britain return to Brussels in his lifetime. That looks very much like rerunning the Brexit argument to me. And he didn’t stop there. Last weekend, Burnham called for an “honest discussion” about restoring freedom of movement between Britain and the EU. That was central to the 2016 referendum.

Trust me, opening the door to hundreds of thousands of young European workers at a time of rocketing youth unemployment will quickly move from being a discussion to an argument. Then a blazing row. Burnham has since tried to clarify his position, insisting he is not proposing to restore free movement without a referendum. Downing Street then tried to clarify his clarification, saying he was not advocating any particular option. Somebody urgently needs to clarify that, too.

Perhaps it’s too harsh to call him a liar. Blunderer might be a better word. Or clown. Burnham publicly ruled out rejoining the EU during this Parliament, but said he might fight the next general election on the issue. Asked whether he would allow Britain to join the EU freedom of movement scheme without a referendum, he answered “No”. Got that?

The EU loathes it. Irish voters rejected the Nice and Lisbon treaties, only to be asked to vote again. Voters were supposed to rubber stamp the grand European project, not question it. The left don’t want to chance a second one.

Burnham will be in Brussels for the UK-EU summit on 20 November, seeking a new deal with the bloc. He says Brexit has “weakened our economy and weakened our control of immigration”. If he’ll go that far in public, imagine what he tells EU leaders. I’ll hazard a guess: exactly what they want to hear. That’s what he does.

He couldn’t tell Makerfield voters that. Why? Because 65% of them voted to leave the EU. So he told them what they wanted to hear. Now he’s telling the left what it wants to hear.

In other words, he’s saying one thing and doing another. Repeatedly. Is that fibbing, gaslighting, political double-talk or outright lying? I’ll let you decide