I was in Liverpool for Prime Minister Burnham’s conference speech on Tuesday.  I've attended many political conferences over the years, and I believe Burnham’s speech is one of the best I've witnessed.

It was very emotional and covered a wide range of policies including pension reform, public ownership of water, voting reform and, of course, social care. However, most of his reforms were framed as long-term promises, not something achievable immediately.

Sadly, there was no mention of travel and tourism. Burnham did announce a £2 cap on single bus fares across England starting in January 2027. Just ahead of the conference he had also announced that Avanti West Coast would be brought into public ownership on 7 March next year, saying “enough is enough".  As a regular Avanti customer, I echo the Prime Minister’s sentiments.  Avanti has the worst record of cancellations of all the UK’s rail companies.

For the travel industry, however, the most interesting part of his speech was his statement that Labour’s next election manifesto could include a commitment to hold a second referendum or an outright pledge to rejoin the European Union.

The prime minister said he was not “leaping to a referendum” but if public opinion was “pointing towards” rejoining the EU he could commit his party to a vote.  The latest polling suggests 59% of the public back rejoining and just 32% are opposed with 9% undecided.

Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street

In a poll that ITT commissioned back in 2016, prior to the referendum, over 85% of members were in favour of remaining in the EU with just 7% in favour of leaving and 8% undecided.  My feeling is that number of ITT members in favour of staying in (or rejoining) the EU will have grown over the past decade. I sometimes ask Brexiteers – tongue in cheek – if the UK were to rejoin the EU which of the Brexit benefits would you miss most?

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said that the UK would be welcomed “with open arms” if it decided to rejoin, while French president Macron has said: “If the British want to come back and if the prime minister is moving in that direction, I think it is very good news, both for his country and for the Europeans.”

Let’s face it, Brexit hasn’t done the travel or hospitality industries any favours, what with visas, queues, changes to labour supply, border checks and the end of free movement. So, it is my feeling that our industry would give a massive thumbs up to the prospect of a second referendum.

Steven Freudmann is the chair of the Institute of Travel and Tourism