"Come all the way" back to EU, French minister tells Britain

Britain is welcome to "come all the way" back into the European Union, France's finance minister has said — the most direct invitation yet from a senior EU politician since Prime Minister Andy Burnham reopened the question of a second Brexit referendum. Roland Lescure told the BBC that the door was open: "British people decided, and that's obviously their 100% right, and if they're willing to come back, they will have to decide. But what I can tell them is: come back, anytime."

The remarks, reported by the BBC, mark a warming in relations between London and European capitals after Burnham said last week that a second referendum on EU membership was "possible" in a future Labour election manifesto. It is the first time a French minister of this seniority has publicly courted a British return since Brexit took effect.

Burnham's "options" that reopened the debate

Burnham broke a decade-long taboo for a sitting prime minister when he said Britain should "consider the options" for its long-term relationship with Europe. In a BBC interview, he laid out a spectrum: stay as the UK is, rejoin the customs union or the single market, or go "all the way" back into the EU. "I would like to see Britain rejoin in my lifetime," he said, adding bluntly that "Brexit has done more harm than good."

The prime minister argued that Brexit had triggered "a decade of low growth" and said Britain must decide on a long-term relationship with its largest trading partner. He has, however, stressed that he will honour the current Labour manifesto during this Parliament, which commits Britain to remaining outside the single market and customs union — pointing instead to the next general election, which he says will be in 2029, as the moment the question could be put to voters. Verity's politics coverage has followed the fallout from his conference speech and the reopened Brexit debate.

Lescure's response was to present EU membership as the answer to the world's challenges. Being in the bloc comes with difficulties, he conceded, but it enables members to better address the problems facing the planet. Brexit, he said, was "very sad."

The "Made In Europe" row that gives the invitation edge

The exchange is not purely symbolic. Burnham has warned that planned EU rules to help European manufacturers — the "Made In Europe" scheme — would damage British industry and supply chains. The proposals aim to shield EU firms from Chinese competition by giving companies inside the bloc priority for public contracts and subsidies, potentially locking British suppliers out.

European carmakers, whose just-in-time supply chains criss-cross the Channel, have called for the UK to be included in the scheme to prevent disruption to their own operations. Asked about the possibility of Britain being kept out, Lescure's answer was pointed: "Come back, and you'll be at the table, and we discuss all these things together." The message was clear: the price of influence over EU industrial policy is membership.

!The hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg The European Parliament's hemicycle in Strasbourg. Credit: Diliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The timing matters. Burnham was speaking from Berlin, where he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday ahead of a UK-EU summit planned for next month. He said he was "committed to securing deeper co-operation" with the EU at the summit "towards the end of the year," telling reporters: "We've had an excellent discussion today, and we will look to see if we can turn the summit into a good outcome for the EU, but also for the UK as well."

Defence and fighter jets on the Berlin agenda

The Berlin talks ranged beyond trade. Burnham said the UK was "open" to Germany joining GCAP, the next-generation fighter jet programme run with Italy and Japan and informally known as Tempest. The sixth-generation jets, equipped with AI and next-generation sensors, are intended to keep Western air forces ahead of rivals such as Russia and China. Canada joined as an observer nation in July, while Germany pulled out of a rival Franco-German fighter project over the summer after it was beset by disagreements.

Burnham said the UK and Germany would face threats together — a framing that echoes Verity's reporting on European security and the continent's rearmament push. The two leaders are also expected to have discussed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and Britain's access to the Made In Europe scheme.

Lescure's troubles at home

Lescure spoke to the BBC against a difficult domestic backdrop. France is enduring nationwide student protests over crumbling school infrastructure, larger classes and budget cuts, with hundreds of schools shut and riot police deployed. Polls suggest most French people think the students' demands are legitimate, even as a majority want the protests to stop.

At the same time, the finance minister is fighting to pass a budget built around €43bn in spending cuts. He has said he will cut health spending and ask pensioners to accept below-inflation rises, while the budget deficit — on course to exceed 5% of GDP without action, against the eurozone's 3% ceiling — has been described as alarming. He told the Wall Street Journal he was prepared to invoke article 49.3 of the constitution to bypass parliament if negotiations stall, while insisting his budget "will pass."

It is a reminder that the minister inviting Britain back into the club is himself presiding over one of the EU's most strained public finances — a tension that has roiled European politics and markets alike. For now, though, the invitation stands. As Lescure put it: come back, anytime. Read more world news on Verity's homepage, and learn about our editorial mission.