In brief: UK Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham has floated the possibility of Britain rejoining the EU, prompting Jersey’s government to reaffirm its commitment to protecting the island’s interests. Jersey was largely excluded from the original Brexit vote, and the island’s relationship with Europe remains a live and consequential issue.
Burnham Opens the Door
It is not often that a politician suggests undoing one of the most seismic decisions in modern British history, but Andy Burnham appears to be in that mood. Following the Labour Party annual conference in September, the UK Prime Minister gave a series of interviews in which he declined to rule out Britain going, as he put it, “all the way” and rejoining the European Union.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Burnham set out a spectrum of options: “We could stay as we are. That’s definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay. We could look at what George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market or we could go all the way.”
The Jersey Evening Post notes that this represents a marked shift in tone from his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, who explicitly ruled out returning to the EU during the 2024 general election campaign. Whether Burnham’s comments amount to a serious policy direction or a political weather balloon remains to be seen, but in Jersey, the implications are anything but abstract.
Jersey’s Complicated Brexit Story
To understand why this matters to Jersey residents, it helps to recall how the island arrived at its current position. The 2016 EU referendum, which saw the UK vote to leave by 52% to 48%, triggered Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU in January 2020. Jersey residents, however, were not legally entitled to vote under the European Union Referendum Act 2015, which restricted eligible voters to the UK and Gibraltar. Only those Jersey residents who had lived in the UK within the preceding 15 years could register to vote.
In other words, a decision with profound consequences for Jersey was made largely without Jersey’s direct participation. The island has since had to navigate the post-Brexit landscape as best it can, working through the UK’s constitutional responsibility for Jersey’s defence and foreign policy.
Earlier this year, Jersey’s government took a constructive step in that navigation. In April, ministers backed closer UK alignment with European standards as part of the UK government’s post-Brexit “reset” of relations with the EU. A proposed Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement between the UK and EU was described by Jersey ministers as offering an “opportunity to ease the flow of Jersey’s fisheries and agricultural exports to France and the rest of Europe.” For an island whose fishing and agricultural sectors depend heavily on access to European markets, that is not a minor footnote.
The Government’s Response
Faced with the latest round of speculation from Westminster, Jersey’s External Relations Department has offered a measured but firm statement. A spokesperson said the government would “continue to engage” with relevant parties to ensure the island’s interests are kept in mind, adding: “Jersey has maintained close political, economic and cultural links with Europe and we will continue to adapt to the changing nature of the UK-EU relationship and ensure that the Island’s interests are protected and promoted.”
The statement also reiterated the constitutional reality: “The UK continues to be responsible for Jersey’s defence and foreign policy. We have contributed to the UK-EU reset, and we will continue to ensure that our interests are taken into consideration.”
It is, in fairness, a sensible and diplomatically worded response. Jersey cannot control what happens in Westminster or Brussels, but it can make clear that it intends to be heard. The challenge, as ever, is ensuring that “being heard” translates into something tangible when the big decisions are made.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
