The big question facing ​A​ndy Burnham is not whether Brexit has harmed Britain, but if a rapidly changing Europe will keep the door open​ if the UK decides it wants back in

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It was lobbed into the national conversation without fanfare or warning, almost a footnote in the UK prime minister’s first speech as leader to his governing Labour party’s annual conference. But Andy Burnham has kicked off a quiet U-turn on Brexit.

By stating bluntly that the decision to leave Europe’s core political community had done “more harm than good”, Burnham broke a taboo in his own party, in effect, discarding his predecessor’s paralysing ‘red lines’ on Europe, and signalling he will not be bound by these constraints after the next British election.