The UK looks set to reopen the divisive wounds of Brexit, after a senior Labour politician hoping to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for the country to rejoin the European Union.
Dozens of Labour MPs last week urged Starmer to quit after dire local election results, raising the prospect of a change in prime minister, just two years into the party's tenure. Starmer has so far refused to budge and on Monday vowed to "get on with the job".
"I am focused on the job that I was asked to do, which is to serve my country and to carry out my duties as prime minister," the embattled leader said on a visit to the Labour Party headquarters.
But Wes Streeting, who resigned as health minister last week and announced that he will run to replace Starmer, broke ranks with years of guarded silence on Brexit to call it a "catastrophic mistake".
Britain's membership of the EU has long been a thorny subject, and 10 years ago, a narrow majority of the population voted to leave in a landmark referendum.
Since 2020, when Britain finally left the bloc, the subject has been toxic, with few prominent figures wanting to go back to the days of political paralysis and bitter division.
Starmer, a former Brexit spokesman while Labour was in opposition, wants to move closer to the EU but has stopped short of saying Britain should reapply for membership or rejoin the European single market.
Streeting's call, though, goes further, immediately sparking criticism from Brexit supporters - and the government.
Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage, who leads the hard-right anti-immigration Reform UK party, warned voters in an upcoming by-election in Makerfield, northwest England, that Labour would "drag you closer to the EU".
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, hopes to stand in the seat before an expected challenge to Starmer for the Labour leadership.
Burnham distanced himself from Streeting's stance and said that while there was a case to rejoin the EU in the long-term, he was not campaigning on the issue in the by-election.
The Makerfield election could be a tight vote, with Reform UK running an anti-immigration campaign and dubbing the likely Labour candidate "open borders Burnham".
Despite Burnham's hopes to challenge Starmer's leadership, the prime minister said he would "one hundred per cent" support whoever was named the Labour candidate for the by-election.
"A Labour candidate to beat Reform. That is the fight that we are in," Starmer said.
The Times newspaper reported that Burnham's allies accused Streeting of trying to "derail" the by-election campaign in the constituency, where a majority voted for Brexit in 2016, with the pro-EU comments.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy insisted that rejoining the EU was a "red line" for Starmer's government.
"Wes Streeting has left the government. He can have a debate, he can comment, that is not my position," Lammy said.
Culture minister Lisa Nandy called Streeting's position "odd".
Kemi Badenoch, who leads the main opposition Conservatives, said the Labour in-fighting showed the ruling party "does not have a plan for this country".
Neither Streeting nor Burnham has formally launched a leadership contest, which would need the backing of at least 81 Labour MPs.
But four junior minister resignations and calls by lawmakers for Starmer to step down have rattled his premiership, exposing frictions in a party that has sought to differentiate itself from the chaos of the previous Conservative governments.
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