Will Jones – The Daily Sceptic Nov 9, 2026
Voters in Andy Burnham’s own Makerfield constituency oppose his EU surrender reset, polling shows, despite the Prime Minister pledging during his by-election campaign to apply a “Makerfield test” to policy. The Telegraph has the story.
Voters in Andy Burnham’s own constituency oppose the compromises at the heart of his EU reset, polling shows.
The Prime Minister is expected to use a summit in Brussels on Friday to force Britain to accept EU rules on food standards, Net Zero and higher tariffs on Chinese vehicles.
A poll found that an overwhelming majority of Burnham’s Makerfield constituents believed 10 key policy areas should be decided by the Government alone.
Makerfield voted to leave the EU by 65% to 35% at the Brexit referendum a decade ago.
After his by-election victory in June, Burnham pledged to apply a “Makerfield test” once he reached No. 10, saying that if policies did not work for his constituency, they could not work nationally.
However, he used Labour’s annual conference in September to reopen the Brexit debate and will set out a range of options for the future of the UK-EU relationship this month. These will include going “all the way” and rejoining the bloc after the next General Election.
A poll by Survation for Britain Unbound, a campaign group, asked Makerfield voters whether the Government should decide on policy areas alone, work voluntarily with other countries, or be required to follow decisions made by international institutions.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) said that Britain alone should make decisions around food standards – a major component of Burnham’s reset deal – with just 15% supporting any voluntary international agreement.
The Telegraph revealed last week that to meet the terms of the Prime Minister’s new deal, British law would have to be changed to match European rules on food and plants.
Although the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) deal is predicted to deliver a £5.1 billion-a-year trade boost, it will come at the cost of Britain becoming an EU rule-taker.
Smoky bacon crisps could be banned from British supermarket shelves because they fall foul of planned EU laws forbidding the use of meaty terms to describe vegetarian food.
Vegetarian ‘steak’, ‘pork’ Pot Noodles and ‘chicken’ flavoured crisps would also be banned, because Britain has agreed to align with rules designed to avoid consumers being confused.
Worth reading in full.