Burnham targets deal with EU that will deliver ‘real benefits’ for UK

{"text":[[{"start":9.64,"text":"Andy Burnham has said that his focus is on securing “real benefits” with the EU at the “reset” summit next week, insisting that “no one is talking” about rejoining the bloc."}],[{"start":19.48,"text":"The UK prime minister on Thursday announced fresh sanctions against Russia in a sign of solidarity with his pro-Ukraine EU allies as he arrived at the European Political Community summit, a twice-yearly meeting for around 50 of the continent’s leaders, in Dublin."}],[{"start":34.72,"text":"Burnham said negotiations were accelerating ahead of an EU-UK “reset” summit in Brussels next Friday, promising that the expected deal would bring “real benefits” to the British public. “I’m going to be fighting hard for these benefits for Britain in the next seven days,” he said."}],[{"start":50.4,"text":"“No one is talking about rejoin. This is . . . about the next seven days. And we can take a step back to a closer working relationship with Europe.”"}],[{"start":59.48,"text":"Burnham said he believed the UK could secure a deal that would be “closer to what people voted for” in the 2016 Brexit referendum."}],[{"start":65.96,"text":"“I don’t think people thought they were going to get a Brexit as hard as the one that finally came through at the end of 2019,” he said at the summit in Dublin."}],[{"start":74.88,"text":"Burnham said he would seek to find out why Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system, which Ukraine’s military uses to help defend itself from Russian drone attacks, has faced fresh restrictions in recent days. He added that European leaders were keen to find an alternative satellite service."}],[{"start":90.2,"text":"The British prime minister imposed sanctions on oil producer Slavneft — already hit with EU sanctions — Russia’s major coal companies, Rosneft’s Vostok Oil project and vessels involved in transporting the country’s oil and gas. Britain said Slavneft’s addition meant Russia’s top 10 oil producers were now subject to UK sanctions."}],[{"start":109.52,"text":"Discussions in Dublin among European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr were focused on supporting Kyiv against Russian aggression. Burnham said the measures were designed to “turn the screws on Russia’s oil revenues and drive forward an end to the Kremlin’s needless war”."}],[{"start":126.84,"text":"The summit was a chance for Burnham to meet some of his European counterparts, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, for the first time before next week’s reset talks."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":137.54,"text":"Both sides hope to sign agreements next week to smooth post-Brexit trade in food, link emissions trading schemes and establish a mutual youth experience programme. There have also been discussions about giving EU students cheaper tuition fees at UK universities in return for British access to a new “Made in Europe” manufacturing protectionist scheme."}],[{"start":158.38,"text":"“It is in our interest, I think, to have more young people coming from Europe again to study at our universities, because that in the end benefits both sides,” Burnham said. “That’s all in the discussions for the last seven days [before the summit].”"}],[{"start":172.52,"text":"He has promised a fresh debate about UK-EU relations over the longer term, with all options on the table, ranging from the status quo to re-entering the bloc. Yet senior European figures have signalled that the UK could not expect the same conditions as it previously enjoyed, such as the financial rebate negotiated with the then European Economic Community in the 1980s."}],[{"start":193.96,"text":"In Dublin, Burnham was welcomed by European leaders keen to cement relations with the new prime minister."}],[{"start":199.98,"text":"Roberta Metsola, president of the European parliament, said she wanted to “deepen our relationship with our trusted partners” such as the UK, adding that she was keen to see a “tangible step” forward on a reset deal."}],[{"start":212.62,"text":"Kaja Kallas, EU foreign policy chief, said she wanted to see more “little steps” by both the UK and EU to make both sides “stronger together”, adding: “I would very much like to see Britain back in Europe. But we also have in Europe a lot of trauma from Britain leaving so things will not be easy.”"}],[{"start":230.34,"text":"Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Europe minister, said the priority was getting next week’s agreement over the line."}],[{"start":236.26,"text":"Britain “can make their own decisions and [have] their own debate, it’s important to leave that opportunity to the UK”, he said."}],[{"start":244.94,"text":"Byrne gave the example of when the Irish public had rejected the Lisbon treaty, a pact that amended the bloc’s constitutional foundations, in a referendum in 2008, only to swing behind it a year later in a second vote."}],[{"start":258.42,"text":"“We had a similar situation when the Lisbon treaty was rejected, and then after we actually had a very public process where we engaged with . . . society in general, and civil society in particular,” he said. “That may be worthwhile [for the UK] to consider.”"}],[{"start":276.38,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1794536727_1443.mp3"}