French finance minister invites UK to 'come all the way' back to EU

Britain's post-Brexit trade and industrial ties with the European Union have been a source of friction for years, and the latest flashpoint is the EU's proposed Made In Europe scheme, which would prioritise companies inside the bloc for public contracts and subsidies. French finance minister Roland Lescure on Thursday told the BBC that the door was open for the UK to rejoin, saying the country would then have a direct voice in such decisions. The invitation follows a speech by Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, where he said the UK needed to "consider the options" for its long-term relationship with the EU, ranging from the current arrangements to a customs union, the single market, or full membership.

Burnham said Brexit had done "more harm than good" and that a second referendum was "possible" in a future Labour election manifesto, according to the BBC and The Guardian. Burnham had warned that the planned rules would damage UK industry and supply chains, and British government sources had suggested the upcoming "EU reset" summit could be delayed unless the bloc agreed to discuss legislation that might lock British business out of parts of the EU market. Lescure said being in the EU comes with difficulties but enables members to better address global challenges.

He said he wanted Britain back in the union to face emerging threats together. The prime minister is travelling to Germany for talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose government has been supportive of exploring closer UK-EU links, and the two leaders are expected to agree on closer security cooperation against cyber-attacks. The French minister's comments drew a sharp response from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who claimed Burnham had given him "the biggest boost in my career" by reviving the Brexit debate.

Farage dismissed polls showing as much as 59% of the public favoured rejoining the EU, arguing that support would fall once voters were told it would cost £25bn a year and mean joining Schengen and the euro. Within Labour, MP Stella Creasy said "everything must be on the table", including removing the party's 2024 manifesto red lines that bar rejoining the single market or customs union. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said no one wanted to return to the "toxicity and divisions" of past Brexit debates, but that the question could not be avoided.

Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, urged the government to signal immediately that the UK is ready to apply for membership. Lescure's interview also touched on France's domestic pressures: more than 500 schools fully or partially shut amid student protests, a budget deficit with public borrowing above 5% of GDP, and rising borrowing costs. He said his upcoming budget would cut health spending and give pensioners a below-inflation rise, and that the budget "will pass" a fractious parliament.