Burnham vows to ‘deepen’ Britain’s relationship with EU despite Brussels’ threat to shut UK firms out of major deals

ANDY Burnham vowed to “deepen” Britain’s relationship with the EU yesterday – as Brussels threatens to shut British firms out of major deals. The PM talked up closer ties with Europe as he welcomed Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin as the first foreign leader to visit No10 North in Manchester. Andy Burnham talked up closer ties with Europe as he welcomed Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin to No10 North Credit: EPA Chancellor John Healey warned EU finance ministers closer ties must not mean putting up fresh barriers against British businesses Credit: AP It comes as a fresh Brexit row erupts over the bloc’s proposed “Made in Europe” rules, which are designed to protect European industry from Chinese competition. But Britain fears the plans could give EU firms priority and leave UK manufacturers frozen out of lucrative contracts and supply chains. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Chancellor John Healey yesterday warned EU finance ministers in Dublin closer ties must not mean putting up fresh barriers against British businesses. The Government is also refusing to agree a date for its next major summit with Brussels unless the threat to UK firms is put on the table. But Mr Burnham said yesterday: “The relationship between the UK and Ireland matters so much on every single level. “Close to home, as co-custodians of the Good Friday Agreement, we are working together to uphold its principles as we approach the 30th anniversary next year. “In Europe, we are looking forward to a UK-EU summit later this year and, with Ireland in the presidency, wanting to take further steps to deepen the relationship with Europe.” Mr Martin also said: “We look forward to discussing with you even stronger and closer relationships between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which will be of benefit to the European Union and indeed to Ireland, quite frankly.” Most read in The Sun The “Made in Europe” row follows the collapse of talks last year for Britain to join an EU defence loans scheme after the two sides failed to agree how much the UK should pay. Former UK trade negotiator Sir Crawford Falconer has warned that excluding Britain from the new manufacturing scheme could put the “viability of some of our production facilities at risk”. Car giant Nissan has also warned that EU-only rules would “damage competitiveness” and disrupt supply chains. Comment now