‘Certainly, Never’: Leeds readers firmly divided over rejoining EU 10 years after Brexit vote

Andy Burnham has acknowledged he could go “all the way” and propose rejoining the European Union as he considers the UK’s future relationship with Brussels.

The Prime Minister discussed the potential to reopen the European question during his first Labour Party conference since taking over at Number 10.

Mr Burnham, who has blamed Brexit for a decade of drift and division, said he would look at the “pros and cons” of all options.

The Prime Minister said Brexit had done “more harm than good” and promised to set out the options to the country around the time of a UK-EU summit later this year.

Following Mr Burnham’s speech, we turned to the readers of the the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Facebook page and asked: “Would you support rejoining the EU if given the choice?”

It was a question that prompted a huge debate, with over 1,500 comments at the time of writing. Much like the referendum ten years ago, opinion was divided - with around 52% of commenters supporting a return to the European Union, while 48% preferred to stay out of it.

We have picked a selection of the most liked comments to highlight the strength of the discussion.

John Tracey wrote: “Yes. We left on a lie, if we all had the true information, it wouldn’t have tipped the balance.

“We became weaker in nearly every way, our currency suffered, our economy suffered, immigration was out of our control and everything cost more when we were out of the single market.

“Now we know the truth, it needs serious consideration.”

Michael Butler-Clark echoed this saying he would rejoin: “In a blink of an eye.”

Simon Poe said: “Yes, certainly. I voted Remain in 2016 and haven't wavered in my belief that we should rejoin since that time.”

Dave Brooks backed rejoining the EU, if it is Labour’s next manifesto for the 2029 general election. He explained: “If rejoining the EU is in the next Labour manifesto and Labour have the largest vote,then no referendum is required.

“I would vote to return to the EU.”

Alun Taff Edmunds said: “You can't change European rules and policies if you're not in the union, so join and try and change them.”

Meanwhile, Alex Braid added: “Yes, Britain has not benefited from this (Brexit) in any way.”

Debbie Powers said: “Needs to be via a referendum. And this time an independent monitor needs to be set up so people can't lie, like last time.”

On the other side of the debate, Christopher Cawthera said: “No, we voted out by a public referendum and Burnham needs the public referendum vote to get back in.

“So he can't just decide we’re back in because that's what he wants and that's in law.”

Paul Taylor added: “No. Politicians have never given it a chance because they didn’t agree with the country's decision!”

Chris Shaw was also against rejoining the EU. He wrote: “NO, given half a chance the UK can do so much better for itself being outside the EU.”

While David Rowlett said: “No, never, especially when some of the member countries are at odds with the policies the commissioners are trying to enforce on member states.”

Dsve Johnson called for Brexit to be taken even further. He explained: “No. Far from it. Instead we should reexamine the laws and deals that the ''remainers'' pushed through after losing the referendum and do the hard exit that the public expected.”