Andy Burnham's bid to rejoin the EU could cost the UK £750 milllion a week - double the price tag when Britain left a decade ago

Andy Burnham’s bid to rejoin the EU could cost the UK £750 million a week in membership fees, according to new research.A study by the new campaign group Stay Out reveals that the size of the EU’s annual budget has doubled since the UK voted to leave a decade ago.The EU has also introduced a number of new green levies which the UK would have to pay. And senior EU figures have warned that Britain would no longer receive the annual budget rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher if it chose to rejoin.Annual payments could total £39.3 billion a year – equal to £756 million a week. The figure dwarfs the £350 million a week that was the subject of massive controversy during the 2016 referendum.Stay Out has been set up by former Vote Leave supporters concerned by the PM’s bid to reverse Brexit.Former Vote Leave chief Michael Gove backed the new findings, saying: ‘Rejoining would mean handing back control of our laws, borders, money and trade, and paying a good deal more for membership than we did before.‘Families worried about their mortgages, energy bills and the weekly shop want a government that spends its time and their money on easing the cost of living. Sending £750 million a week to Brussels would do nothing to help with any of this.‘Reopening this question would just commit the country to another decade of fractious negotiations and a return to the divisions we have spent years putting behind us, at the very moment people are desperate for Westminster to get on with delivering on their priorities.’ All smiles: But the PM's deal with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen could cost the UK billionsThe report comes amid growing confusion about Mr Burnham’s intentions on Brexit.The Prime Minister has said he plans to use a UK-EU summit next week as the ‘launchpad for a ‘national conversation’ on future relations which could end with Britain going ‘all the way’ back into the Brussels club.But Mr Burnham faces growing Cabinet divisions over the issue. Downing Street told reporters on Friday there is ‘no timeframe’ for setting out potential future options.Speaking at a gathering of European leaders in Dublin on Thursday night, the PM said: he was focused on next week’s food and farming deal, adding: ‘We’ll take a decision as a Cabinet on what, if anything, comes next.’Mr Burnham’s ‘reset’ deal, which was first negotiated by Keir Starmer, will slash post-Brexit checks imposed by Brussels, which have made it difficult for British food producers to export to the bloc.In return, the PM will agree to permanently align with all EU regulations on food and farming. The process, known as dynamic alignment, means that the UK will have to adopt new EU regulations in the area as soon as they are passed by the EU.A No 10 spokeswoman said the PM was 'very clear that closer cooperation with the EU is in Britain's best interests'.She added: 'We share values and strategic priorities. The PM has said that he doesn't see the deals we expect to agree at the summit as the end of our ambition, and is clear that there is more that can be achieved through working closely with Europe.'But in terms of any more fundamental change to our relationship, he is making no assumptions at all, and he is clear that the British public will be in charge of any outcome.' A parliamentary report this week warned the food and farming deal alone could require the UK to adopt around 780 EU laws a year – equal to one every 12 hours.The UK could also be forced to make millions of pounds of contributions towards the EU’s cohesion funds, which support infrastructure projects in poorer member states, and which have been beset by fraud and corruption.Going further and joining the single market or becoming a full member of the EU would involve a far bigger bill.The Remain campaign angrily rejected Boris Johnson’s referendum claim that EU membership cost the UK £350 million a week.The new analysis suggests the cost of rejoining would be far higher. Official figures show the EU plans to ask member states for a total of 262.2 billion euro (£222.9 billion) in 2028. But this figure would grow to 311.3 billion euro (£264.6 billion) if Britain joined.The UK’s share, based on national income, would total £39.3 billion.The figure would be partially offset by EU spending on projects in the UK, but it is not possible to say how much this would amount to. Leading EU figures, such as former chief negotiator Michel Barnier, have said the UK’s historic rebate will not be revived.Stay out chief Oliver Lewis, who helped negotiate the current Brexit deal, said: ‘The EU that Britain would be rejoining is more indebted, divided and expensive than the one we left, and on the Commission’s own numbers it would cost us £750 million a week, with no rebate.’