Well, that trial balloon has probably popped. 

Over the weekend, Andy Burnham suggested a strategic retreat from Brexit immigration and "freedom of movement" policies as part of his effort to negotiate what amounts to a semi/kinda/not quite reversal of Brexit. 

The establishment in the U.K. has hated Brexit since it was floated, and has tried mightily to kill it. But despite its inconveniences, Brexit remains a political electrified fence that nobody, even in the Labour Party, wants to touch. 

That's why the Labour manifesto they ran on in 2024 explicitly promised not to touch Brexit, including rejoining the European freedom of movement agreement. 

Yet Burnham, in an interview with the Times, floated the idea that he wanted to reverse those policies, as did others in his government. 

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Let's just say the response was not friendly. 

Burnham, who has been developing a reputation of having a tin ear on many issues (his reputation was exactly the opposite, and this proves that was an illusion created by the media), chose about the worst possible time to drop the stink bomb. As Europe has erupted in riots, Burnham suggests that Britain needs more of what came from. 

Burnham is trying to reframe things, suggesting that a more open travel and migration policy would actually ease the illegal immigration problem, and perhaps, if Britons could trust him to cut a good deal, he might have a point. The problem is not that French or German tourists would have too easy a time visiting London; the problem is the "small boat" migrants streaming into Britain. 

But of course, visa-free travel would open the borders to a flood of migrants streaming into European countries; sure, the small-boat problem would ease, because entry through the front door would be much easier. It's hardly different from Biden throwing "asylum" at all comers and saying, "See, they are LEGALLY here, not illegal aliens!" 

That's actually worse, since it makes it even harder to kick them out. 

Burnham will hold talks with the EU next month to renegotiate trade and other terms, which explains why he floated breaking Labour's promises now. It gave him a sense of how much political room he has to advance his plans to reintegrate with Europe. 

It turns out, not much. At least not much when it comes to anything that smells like open borders. That wasn't just a red line in Labour's manifesto; it is a red line for the British electorate. 

Brexit was Europe's first real populist victory, and Nigel Farage made his bones on pushing it through. His victory still seems popular, although scandals, real or imagined, have taken a serious hit to his personal popularity. 

Even with Labour's fairly low popularity ratings, its prospects of coming out on top in a hypothetical election would still be pretty good. As you probably recall, they polled quite badly in the last election but still won in a landslide because the opposition was split. Reform polled well but won only a few seats. 

So Burnham has some room to maneuver in many policy areas. But it seems immigration and free movement is not one of them.