David Cameron's Alzheimer's campaign and his warning to Burnham on rejoining the EU

Timeline newest first

1. Nov 13, 2026Andy Burnham rejects Lord David Cameron's criticism of his EU plans, telling reporters Cameron is wrong that the UK's low growth over the last decade is 'nothing to do with Brexit'.
2. Nov 13, 2026Speaking at the European Political Community summit in Ireland, Burnham says requests for the deals are coming from the European side; a photograph shows him with Ursula von der Leyen in Dublin on 12 November.
3. Nov 13, 2026David Cameron's four-part podcast 'Ending Alzheimer's', exploring Alzheimer's research advances and the possibility of a preventive pill, premieres on 16 November 2026.
4. Nov 13, 2026Cameron's mother Mary developed Alzheimer's and died in 2025; he describes her decline, saying her last two years were depressing and his family was all there at the end.
5. Nov 13, 2026Cameron has been campaigning for the new treatments donanemab and lecanemab to be available on the NHS; regulators concluded in 2025 that their benefits were too small to justify the cost, a decision under review.
6. Nov 13, 2026Cameron says his government legislated to cap social care costs but delayed, and that people are paying catastrophic costs for long-term care.
7. Nov 11, 2026Lord Cameron cautions Andy Burnham against launching a 'long and painful decade-long debate' on rejoining the EU, warning it risks damaging the UK's current negotiations for a better deal.
8. Nov 11, 2026Lord Cameron attributes the UK's economic struggles to overspending, high taxation, over-regulation and welfare costs, dismissing claims that Brexit is the main cause.
9. Nov 11, 2026Andy Burnham is due to meet EU leaders in Brussels during the week of 17 November 2026 to sign agreements on agriculture, emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme he claims could boost GDP by 0.4 per cent.
10. Nov 11, 2026Michel Barnier, the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator, warned there will be 'no cherry picking' when the UK pursues deeper ties with the bloc.
11. Nov 11, 2026The prime minister insisted voters would be 'the boss' of changes to the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union.

Sources newest first

• Andy Burnham hits back at David Cameron over criticism of his EU plansindependent.co.uk· 29h

  The Independent reports that Andy Burnham rejects Lord David Cameron's criticism of his plans to renegotiate Britain's EU deal, calling Brexit more harmful than good and arguing that deals on emissions trading and agri-food could lift growth. Burnham is due to meet EU leaders in Brussels to sign agreements he says could raise GDP by 0.4 per cent, and says no one is talking about rejoining the EU.
• David Cameron on Living With Brexit and Ending Alzheimer’sbloomberg.com· 39h

  Bloomberg interviews David Cameron on his mother's death from Alzheimer's and his new four-part podcast "Ending Alzheimer's," which explores research advances and his forecast of a preventive pill by the 2030s, and on living with Brexit: he says the UK should focus on being the EU's best partner rather than rejoining, argues its economic problems stem not from Brexit, and says he would serve again under Kemi Badenoch.
• David Cameron explains why Andy Burnham should forget about rejoining EUindependent.co.uk· 3d

  Former Prime Minister Lord Cameron cautions Andy Burnham against reopening a "long and painful decade-long debate" on rejoining the EU, warning it could wreck the UK's current negotiations, as Burnham heads to Brussels to sign agreements he claims could lift GDP by 0.4 per cent. Cameron urges Burnham to focus on being a strong EU partner instead, while Michel Barnier says there will be no cherry picking for the UK.
• He triggered Brexit. Now Lord Cameron warns Burnham against rejoining EUindependent.co.uk· 3d

  David Cameron, who called the 2016 Brexit referendum before resigning, warns Andy Burnham against reopening the question of rejoining the EU, calling it a "very long and painful" argument and urging Britain instead to make the partnership model work. Burnham, due to sign agreements with EU leaders in Brussels, says the deals could boost GDP by 0.4%.

Background newest first

• Andy Burnham says UK has ‘lost more than we gained’ through Brexittheguardian.com· 6h

  The Guardian reports Andy Burnham telling Welsh Labour's conference in Llandudno that the UK has "lost more than we gained" through Brexit, accusing the Conservatives of a harsher Brexit that "burned all our bridges." He says a hoped-for deal at the 20 November UK-EU summit in Brussels, where he is due to meet Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, could lift GDP by 0.4%, about £17bn, while he stays open to rejoining the single market despite Labour's manifesto red lines; Michel Barnier told the BBC there is "no cherrypicking".
• Rejoining the EU would cost £750m a weekspectator.com· 27h

  A Spectator article reports that Brexiteers behind Vote Leave's 2016 win have launched a campaign group, Stay Out, run by Oliver Lewis and backed by the claim that rejoining the EU would cost £750 million a week — more than double the old red bus figure — timed to counter Andy Burnham's pro-EU positioning. Michael Gove warns rejoining means another decade of Brexit divisions, and a Czech president is quoted in the launch video saying he wants Britain back "we need more money."
• ‘Win-win’ deal with EU could be done, Andy Burnham saystheguardian.com· 2d

  A news article reports Andy Burnham met fellow leaders at the European Political Community summit in Dublin ahead of an EU-UK summit, saying a 'win-win' deal 'more like the Brexit that people thought they were voting for in 2016' could be done. Deals on food and drink, emissions trading and youth mobility are hoped for, though tuition fees for European students remain a stumbling block and officials are trying to water down an EU ultimatum on deporting foreign national offenders.
• Burnham hails approval for two huge windfarm projects as ‘power under British control’ – UK politics livetheguardian.com· 3d

  Andrew Sparrow's live blog covers Downing Street's announcement that RWE and KKR are investing £12bn in the Vanguard West and East offshore wind farms, which Andy Burnham hails as "power under British control". It also tracks Burnham's day — PMQs with Kemi Badenoch, then Cop31 in Turkey and an EU summit in Dublin — plus Louise Casey's warning that governments have been "asleep at the wheel" on social care and a report to her commission recommending a cap on care firms' profits.
• ‘No one is in charge’: social care system in England in chaos, Louise Casey to saytheguardian.com· 3d

  A Guardian report on England's adult social care previews Louise Casey's warning to a services conference that "no one is in charge" of a chaotic patchwork of local provision, calling the pandemic treatment of care homes a national shame and agreeing with the Covid-19 inquiry's findings. Casey, leading the government's social care review, is expected to call for a "new settlement" for care, while Andy Burnham pursues a national care service and the prime minister plans to fund free personal care by scrapping the pension triple lock.
• Britain willing to discuss paying into EU to join electricity market, says ministertheguardian.com· 4d

  A Guardian article reports that Hamish Falconer says Britain is willing to discuss paying towards infrastructure schemes in poorer EU regions for access to the European electricity market, though UK officials reject linking electricity trade to the EU's cohesion fund. The piece also covers the collapsed talks on the EU's €150bn Safe defence fund, sticking points over fees for EU students, the UK's return to Erasmus+, and hopes for deals at the 20 November summit.
• Labour’s Brexit red lines ready for ‘dignified retirement’, says their co-authortheguardian.com· 5d

  The Guardian publishes an article by Chris Ward, co-author of Labour's 2024 manifesto Brexit red lines, who argues they deserve a "dignified retirement" because the UK "could no longer rely on the Americans" and closer EU ties would guard against security threats. He recommends public debate on rejoining the EU or associate membership, and predicts a reset deal, a youth mobility scheme, and the return of Erasmus+ will pass at the UK-EU summit, with Andy Burnham meeting European leaders in Dublin.
• Don’t do the Norway model, Norway tells Britainpolitico.eu· 5d

  A Politico article reports that Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre says he would not recommend his country's EU arrangement to Britain, citing a democratic deficit, no vote over the bloc's commercial rules, and some 100 additional agreements signed with Brussels. Støre told British friends after Brexit not to copy what they left the EU to avoid, while Andy Burnham, who wants the U.K. to rejoin long term, plans to scope better trade terms at an upcoming summit with EU leaders.
• Lisa Nandy wary of ‘circular arguments’ about rejoining EUtheguardian.com· 6d

  The Guardian reports that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, whose Wigan seat voted Leave, wants to avoid "circular arguments" about rejoining the EU as she and other cabinet ministers privately warn that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's plan for an "honest conversation" about Brexit could only benefit Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Burnham, who says he will move beyond Labour's red lines after the next election, attends the European Political Community summit in Dublin, while agreements on agriculture, emissions trading and youth visas are expected at a Brussels reset meeting on 20 November. Nandy also defends linking the UK's rejoining Erasmus plus to Remembrance Sunday, rejecting Conservative chair Kevin Hollinrake's accusation that she was making an EU membership pitch.
• UK could rejoin the EU within four years, Barnier suggestsindependent.co.uk· 6d

  An Independent article reports Michel Barnier's suggestion that the UK could rejoin the EU in as little as four years, with the "door is open" but the Thatcher-negotiated £5bn annual rebate likely off the table and no cherry-picking of the single market's four freedoms. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy acknowledges there would be trade-offs in seeking closer ties but is personally not in favour of full rejoining, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham wants to strengthen ties with Europe.
• Andy Burnham wants to get closer to the EU - but he shouldn’t expect a smooth ridebbc.com· 7d

  BBC News analysis by Laura Kuenssberg argues Prime Minister Andy Burnham has gone beyond the expected EU-UK deal to be signed at the Brussels summit on 20 November, floating a return to the EU as his long-term ambition despite warnings that rejoining means accepting freedom of movement and no à la carte single market access. Michel Barnier tells her the UK cannot pick and choose, Labour figures preach caution, and Kuenssberg expects no smooth ride, calling a rejoin campaign a heck of a gamble with enormous risks and possible rewards.
• The UK has few easy options for rejoining a ‘traumatised’ EUft.com· 7d
• Closer ties with EU would boost UK economic growth, Bank of England governor saysindependent.co.uk· 8d

  The Independent reports Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey saying closer economic ties with the EU would benefit the UK economy. Prime Minister Andy Burnham expects new agreements at a Brussels summit on 20 November 2026 to lift GDP by around 0.4 per cent, ease border checks on food and drink, and create a youth mobility scheme for under-35s.
• The UK-EU reset is a deal worth doingft.com· 9d
• How strong is UK support for rejoining the European Union?yougov.com

  YouGov's tracker finds a closer relationship with the EU without rejoining is now the most supported option, backed by 73% of the British public including 64% of 2016 Leave voters, up from 63% in July 2024. Full rejoining is backed by 59%, while the status quo (30%) and further loosening ties (16%) face net opposition.
• Former Brexit negotiator Barnier: UK should get flexibility on euro and Schengen if it rejoins EUpolitico.eu· 9d

  Politico.eu reports Michel Barnier, the EU's former Brexit negotiator, saying the UK should be able to rejoin the EU without adopting the euro or joining Schengen, while insisting there can be "no cherry-picking" on the single market. He also warns Marine Le Pen's comments point toward the end of the European project and calls French politics "pre-insurrectionary."
• The NHS is relying more on charities - and that might be creating problems for patientsbbc.com· 9d

  The BBC's Nick Triggle reports that charities, from Dementia UK's Admiral Nurses to WellChild and Parkinson's UK, increasingly fund and deliver NHS services, with NHS England spending nearly £2bn a year buying from the voluntary sector. Charity leaders say they are subsidising squeezed NHS budgets, while critics warn the money flows disproportionately to wealthier communities.
• Most UK voters back post-Brexit youth mobility scheme with EUindependent.co.uk· 9d

  The Independent reports a YouGov poll for ABTA finding 75 per cent of UK voters back a youth mobility scheme with the EU, with support in every party including Reform UK voters at 49 to 36 per cent. Industry figures say the scheme would restore opportunities for young workers, and the findings are seen as a boost for Andy Burnham, who is prime minister.
• UK and EU agree deal to remove Brexit checks on food and animal productstheguardian.com· 11d

  The Guardian reports that the UK and EU have settled a deal removing Brexit checks on food and animal products, from sausages and cheese to leather goods, with sources saying the 200-page text is final and Defra briefing industry that implementation may wait until 2028. The agreement, set to be sealed at a UK-EU summit on 20 November alongside rejoining the EU's single electricity market and a expected youth experience scheme, has divided Northern Irish unionists, while the National Farmers' Union says British food exports to the EU have collapsed by a third since Brexit.
• UK and EU agree draft deal to scrap Brexit red tape over food exportsbbc.com· 11d

  A BBC article by economics editor Faisal Islam reports the UK and EU have agreed a draft deal removing post-Brexit checks from food exports, scrapping £200 Export Health Certificates, inspector and port fees, and allowing sausages, shellfish and seed potatoes to resume, in return for the UK dynamically aligning with EU trade rules. The government claims £5.1bn in annual benefits, supermarkets and farmers back the plan, and the British Chambers of Commerce is pressing for published options on closer ties.
• Andy Burnham's EU debate is a 'distraction' for his lack of plan, Kemi Badenoch tells GB Newsgbnews.com· 13d

  Kemi Badenoch tells GB News's Camilla Tominey Show that Prime Minister Andy Burnham is stirring up debate about rejoining the EU as a distraction from accusations that he has no plan for the country. She says everyone can see he lacks a plan, and mocks his talk of a 10-year plan versus a 10-month plan.
• Rachel Reeves says Britain's future is a return to the EUgbnews.com· 13d

  GB News reports that Rachel Reeves, writing in The Sunday Times ahead of a Harvard lecture, says Britain's future lies in the European Union and that Brexit has left the country 'poorer, weaker and less secure', despite Labour's 2024 manifesto explicitly ruling out a return to membership. She urges rejoin supporters to make the case and seeks progress on a youth mobility scheme and the SAFE defence partnership before the November 20 UK-EU summit, while Nigel Farage calls it a 'total betrayal of Brexit Britain' and Andy Haldane warns reigniting the debate would damage growth.
• 'No confusion at all' on Government's stance on Brexit, Burnham insists at PMQs | LBClbc.co.uk· 17d

  LBC reports Prime Minister Andy Burnham's insistence at PMQs that there is "no confusion at all" over his position on rejoining the EU, after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of creating confusion and demanded he say whether he wants a referendum. Burnham ruled out rejoining before the next election, called the Conservatives' Brexit deal bad for growth, and said Barnier told LBC free movement would be a key condition for single-market return.
• Nigel Farage sets out why UK will NEVER vote to rejoin EU in scathing attack on Andy Burnhamgbnews.com· 19d

  GB News liveblogs Nigel Farage's London attack on Andy Burnham's ambition to rejoin the EU, saying rejoining would mean free movement and the euro and predicting Britons will never vote to return. It also covers Reform UK's economic rescue plan with Robert Jenrick, and Labour's migration revolt as Sadiq Khan, Angela Rayner and the Prime Minister break with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
• Nigel Farage warns Andy Burnham is making 'Brexit mistake' as Reform launches Red Wall blitzgbnews.com· 6w

  GB News liveblogs Nigel Farage's warning that Prime Minister Andy Burnham is making a 'very big political mistake' by opening the door to rejoining the EU, calling him a hypocrite and planning a Red Wall blitz in Doncaster and across northern England. Sadiq Khan writes in The Guardian that Brexit was economic self-harm and urges Burnham to kickstart a rejoin campaign before 2029, while a No 10 spokesman says the Manchester City investigation must run its course.
• Andy Burnham tells GB News he is considering rejoining EU as PM makes major Brexit U-turngbnews.com· 6w

  GB News reports that Prime Minister Andy Burnham, 125 days after promising voters in Brexit-backing Makerfield he would not return Britain to the EU, says he is considering options including rejoining, a customs union, or a single market relationship, arguing Britain needs an honest conversation about its future with Brussels. He says Brexit has caused harm and changed immigration, while Labour MP Graham Stringer calls any talk of going back mere signalling, and GB News says the shift threatens a Brexit civil war inside Labour.
• British PM Burnham declines to rule out rejoining EUeuronews.com· 7w

  Euronews reports that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, travelling to the UN General Assembly, declined to rule out including a pledge to rejoin the EU in Labour's next manifesto, calling questions about rejoining "for another day" while his focus stays on a UK/EU summit expected later in 2026, ahead of a planned meeting with Ursula von der Leyen. The right has pushed back: Kemi Badenoch warned Labour was risking "restarting the Brexit wars", and Reform UK's Richard Tice billed revisiting Brexit as "a new Battle of Britain".
• Why Andy Burnham won’t Rejoinunherd.com· 20w

  Samuel Rubinstein's UnHerd essay argues that Andy Burnham, tipped as a future Prime Minister after winning Leave-voting Makerfield while refusing to relitigate Brexit, will not pursue Rejoin. Rubinstein, a Remainer who calls Brexit a mistake, says Bregret is no match for Brexit fatigue: few Britons rank rejoining among their priorities, the March for Rejoin drew only Remainer ultras like Steve Bray, and if Britain ever rejoins it will be for hard-headed self-interest, not the late-2010s Remainer cause.
• Eight reasons why the UK will not rejoin the EU in my lifetimelse.ac.uk· 21w

  A blog post by Professor Iain Begg on LSE's EUROPP blog, part of the "In the Brexit hot seat" series marking ten years since the 2016 referendum, sets out eight reasons Britain is highly unlikely to rejoin the EU in his lifetime. He cites polling suggesting most UK voters think Brexit was a mistake.
• MPs to debate UK rejoining EU after Labour opens door to Brexit 'betrayal'gbnews.com· 24w

  GB News reports that MPs are set to debate whether the UK should rejoin the EU after a petition to join the bloc as soon as possible passed 100,000 signatures, though the Cabinet Office notes Labour's 2024 manifesto ruled out rejoining, the single market and the customs union. The petition's author, Robert McCaster, citing OBR forecasts that Brexit will cut long-run productivity by four per cent, urges Britain to apply to rejoin, while YouGov polling finds 56 per cent would now vote to rejoin.
• Potential re-accession of the United Kingdom to the European Union - Wikipediawikipedia.org· 5y

  A Wikipedia article surveys the possibility of the United Kingdom rejoining the European Union after its 2020 departure: polling since Brexit shows support for rejoining overtaking opposition from 2021, with 2026 polls averaging over half in favour, while a September 2023 Franco-German proposal floated associate membership including the single market but not the customs union. Party positions vary — Keir Starmer ruled out rejoining in 2023, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has hinted at it without full Labour backing, the Liberal Democrats and Greens support closer ties, and Reform and the Conservatives want to stay out — and rejoining would require unanimous support from EU member states under Article 49 of the Maastricht Treaty.
• The Day I Met the Rude, Bored, Graceless David Cameronbylinetimes.com· 7y

  An opinion column by Otto English recounts his 2004 meeting with a rude, bored David Cameron and a genial George Osborne at a House of Commons book launch, and traces Cameron's PR-polished rise since. English argues Cameron's memoirs offer no apology for the turmoil he caused, and says there is no forgiveness for him.
• Causes of the vote in favour of Brexit - Wikipediawikipedia.org· 10y

  Wikipedia's article on the causes of the vote in favour of Brexit covers the 2016 referendum, in which 51.8% backed leaving the EU, and the factors behind it: sovereignty, immigration, the economy and anti-establishment politics. Among the research it cites, Michael Ashcroft's poll found 49% of leave voters cited decisions about the UK being taken in the UK, while studies link the vote to demographic change, austerity, lower educational attainment, and pro-Leave newspaper and social-media coverage.
• They did things differently there: how Brexiteers appealed to voters’ nostalgialse.ac.uk· 10y

  In a 13 July 2016 post on LSE's Brexit blog, Elliott Green argues the UK's EU referendum was a rare vote offering a return to the past rather than a step into the future, and that Leave appeals to nostalgia—slogans like "take back control" and "we want our country back," imperial memories, and World War II references—targeted four overlapping voter groups and helped explain older voters' support for Brexit. He recommends future referendums be worded to make voters think about the future rather than the past.
• FactCheck: five things we learned about Brexitchannel4.com· 11y

  Channel 4 News's FactCheck draws on Lord Ashcroft's survey of 12,369 voters after the UK voted to leave the EU, finding strong Remain support among the young, graduates and ethnic minorities, and Leave among over-45s and pensioners, while London was the only Remain-majority region in England and Wales. It also says Nigel Farage distanced himself from Vote Leave's £350m-a-week claim, and notes Nicola Sturgeon wants a second Scottish independence referendum.