Sadiq Khan urges Andy Burnham to start work on rejoining EU 'now' as Labour's Brexit civil war deepens

Lord Sadiq Khan has urged Andy Burnham to begin working on rejoining the EU "now" as Labour's Brexit split appears to deepen.

London's Mayor told the Prime Minister to begin "pitch rolling" on returning to Brussels as soon as possible, so the "heavy lifting" is done in preparation for a general election.

Speaking to the i paper during Labour's conference in Liverpool, Lord Khan said: "We have got to start the work now.

"You cannot, a week before a general election, pull out of a hat this rabbit of a manifesto and say we are going to rejoin in six weeks' time.

"The heavy lifting, the pitch-rolling must be done now, explaining to the country the disbenefits of being outside the European Union and the benefits of being part of this family."

Mr Burnham has changed his position on rejoining the bloc.

He confessed at last year's party conference he would like to see the UK back in Brussels in his lifetime, but then pledged to respect the 2016 referendum while campaigning in the Makerfield by-election earlier this year.

During the UN's General Assembly in New York last week, the Prime Minister told the press including EU reintegration in his manifesto was "for another day".

Sir Tony Blair, former Prime Minister and Mr Burnham's old boss, called for him to establish plans to rejoin the union within the next 10 years.

He said the Government should announce its intention to rejoin if Brussels agreed to significant reforms.

Urging for "a modern relationship" with the EU, Sir Tony urged Mr Burnham to reject Brexit restrictions on freedom of movement, the single market and the customs union.

Returning to the bloc has persisted as a debate within the Labour party since the Prime Minister's succession to power.

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Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the Telegraph he did not see "see the strength" in the rejoin debate.

He said: "You are not going to get much more benefit than we have already going to get from the agreement that we have struck and are negotiating the details of, and then you are going to lose out on all those opportunities around the rest of the world that we have got."

Graham Stringer, who has served as Blackley and Middleton South's MP since 1997, told GB News the EU "did not improve our economic performance".

He said ahead of this year's conference: "We were in the EU for 47 years, and we didn't improve our economic performance when we were in."

Labour's biggest union backers, Unite, said rejoining the EU would be "seen as a problem".

Sharon Graham, Unite's General Secretary, told Sky News: "We need to be sure that we are keeping to what the British people said.

"The British people voted for Brexit. I think if we are going down a road of trying to undo that, I think that will be seen as a problem."

However, members of Mr Burnham's cabinet appear to be pro-rejoin, arguing going back to the bloc will boost economic growth.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has previously suggested rejoining the customs union would be financially beneficial for the UK.

Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said the UK needed to establish a "stronger, deeper relationship with the EU".

Speaking at a conference fringe event, he said: "Where have I turned to in these last two months? I’ve turned to our European partners, and I think it is such an important thing to say because I think it reflects where our strategic future lies in this partnership with the EU."