Andy Burnham doesn’t only want a ‘reset’ of relations with the EU. The Prime Minister has hinted that he is open to calls to rejoin it. Anyone tempted to support such an idea, however, would do well to consider a couple of recent developments. If they did, they might well think again.

One is a European summit planned for this week, ostensibly about streamlining EU administration. Member states are being asked to consider proposals for not only reducing the number of European Commissioners, but also – and very significantly – possibly ditching veto rights on matters such as EU taxation rules and sanctions on third countries.

The EU may talk about preserving democracy, but this appears to be a version of carefully guided democracy EU-style

The EU may talk about preserving democracy, but this appears to be a version of carefully guided democracy EU-style

The other is a troubling interview with the EU’s enlargement commissioner Marta Kos. In a statement that will go down well with Eurocrats in Berlaymont and the EU old guard – Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg – Kos outlined in the Guardian a plan under which any future joining EU member could for fifteen years face massively increased oversight.

If........

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