Andy Burnham is facing a divided cabinet and fears of a potential backlash from voters after he left the door open to reversing Brexit.
Two of his most senior cabinet ministers, foreign secretary Ed Miliband and home secretary Shabana Mahmood, are understood to be on opposing sides of the debate over whether or not the UK should rejoin the European Union.
In his speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, he warned Brexit had done “more harm than good” and promised to set out options to get closer to the bloc, including by rejoining it.
But he faces a battle to persuade a divided cabinet, which includes senior ministers who represent seats which voted heavily in favour of leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum.
Ms Mahmood is understood to be among the most sceptical about rejoining and has questioned the idea that it would help solve migration problems.
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She is understood to have told friends: “I don’t want us to rejoin. I don’t think it is a good idea”.
Meanwhile Mr Miliband is thought to be most positive about a return to the EU, but is also open to other solutions like membership of the customs union and single market, or even looking at a relationship similar to the ‘associate membership’ that has been offered to Canada.
But the foreign secretary is understood to have made it clear to allies that, while his Doncaster seat voted 72 per cent for Leave, “that will not stop me from doing the right thing on Brexit”.
One senior minister told The Independent: “If there was no political risk I think we would rejoin tomorrow, but we have to be mindful of Nigel Farage and revitalising Reform.
“That said, if we want to grow the economy then we have to rejoin – we all know that.
“From the discussions taking place, it is not ‘if’ but ‘how’ we do it. Do we put it directly as a pledge in the manifesto or do we use a more indirect form of words about having a debate?”
Other ministers are concerned about EU overregulation on tech and AI, which they believe need to be relaxed because of the UK’s position as a centre for the technology, setting up a potential battle with the bloc.
While some, like defence secretary Wes Streeting and environment secretary Angela Eagle, also have concerns about the UK being locked out of the EU market and security bloc through its new “Made in Europe” reforms.
Before Mr Burnham’s announcement, the business secretary Jonathan Reynolds also told a fringe event at Labour’s conference that reopening the question of EU membership could create "a lot of uncertainty for business".
Mr Burnham has said one of the options is to “go all the way” and resume full membership of the EU.
Another possibility is to back the call to to rejoin the EU Customs Union made by former Tory Chancellor George Osborne in an interview with The Independent earlier this month.
The PM was criticised by the Conservatives who accused him of trying to “reopen old wounds by restarting the battles of the Brexit years.”
But he received an extremely positive response from two major EU powers, with the leaders of France and Spain both backing the idea of Britain returning to the EU.
French president Emmanuel Macron said that it would be "excellent news” and "a good decision" if Britain decided to rejoin, while Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez said Britain would be welcome back to the EU "with open arms".
As prime minister Andy Burnham looks at the way ahead for Britain's relationship with Europe, The Independent has been leading the charge, campaigning to secure the absolute best deal for Britain. Become an Independent member for just £1 for six months and join a like-minded community of thousands signed up to our Europe: The Way Back campaign.
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