As EU cosies up to Canada, Burnham’s Brexit Britain feels sidelined

Andy Burnham was for years a staunch opponent of Brexit and a vocal supporter of rejoining the European Union. When he became Britain’s new prime minister in July, this seemed to augur well for UK-EU relations – but instead, Brussels is looking past its neighbour and cosying up to Canada.European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed Canada could become the first associate member of the EU, creating a tailor-made title in a bid for the trading bloc to expand its borders and reinvent itself following Britain’s infamous exit.It remains to be seen what associate membership means in practice, and this may take years to determine. Still, it signals that Canada is well ahead of Britain in establishing better relations with the bloc on both trade and security.British officials shrugged off the announcement. One said they could not judge what it meant without any details. Another downplayed it as a political move rather than one that would necessarily have any major trade or economic impacts any time soon.Nonetheless, figures across the Labour government, both under former prime minister Keir Starmer and his successor, are disappointed that the EU has not shown much desire to use the ousting of the Conservatives in the 2024 general election to reset post-Brexit relations.Burnham’s ambitions for closer ties have been largely shelved as new UK negotiators immediately got bogged down in the same difficult negotiations on food standards and a youth mobility programme that were taking place under Starmer. A UK-EU summit has been delayed amid the lack of progress.The United Kingdom’s government is still bound to its red lines on remaining outside the single market and customs union – a commitment made at the last election. British officials involved in negotiations believe there is no prospect of a significant improvement in trading terms unless Labour breaks its electoral promise.