Exclusive from @benclatworthy Britain is holding talks with the EU about a potential return to free movement and other options for closer alignment The Times has been told that the UK is discussing a series of options about the future relationship which are due to be unveiled within weeks Andy Burnham plans to set out his vision for closer ties with the bloc, including the potential of rejoining the union, and have a “conversation with the British public about our long-term future” The options that will be presented are being discussed with officials in Brussels to ensure both sides would ultimately be able to agree One source said all such routes would be “discussed using diplomatic channels” before any “big bang” launch of the options on the table thetimes.com/article/4ef6707…

Sir Jeremy Hunt - a former Tory chancellor who campaigned for Remain - says returning to free movement would be a 'hammer-blow' to trying to get people off welfare and into work He says that there is a risk that it paralyses the government because the issue is so divisive, and that there is an unwritten rule that major constitutional issues should only be returned to once a generation He tells @bbclaurak: 'We have 1million people not in employment, education or training. The government says it is serious about getting them back into work. To suddenly say you are prepared to negotiate allowing people from all over Europe to come and take those jobs would be a hammer blow to those plans to get people off welfare and into work. 'Whatever your views are on the European issue - and I voted Remain - going back to that old model where employers were giving jobs to people from all over Europe and we were parking people on welfare here must be a step back. 'When you have to have these big, constitutional debates you have to have an unwritten agreement that you are only going to come back to them once in a generation. Otherwise it is so divisive. 'I was at the top of a government that was paralysed for several years while we were trying to wrestle with the implications of that vote. I think that having made a decision we should stick with it.'

Andy Haldane interview: **The financial situation is precarious - the penny hasn't dropped in No 10** 'The penny has not yet fully dropped, including in Downing Street. You see that in us having the highest borrowing costs in the G7, despite not having the highest debts and deficits 'It’s the old [Ernest] Hemingway thing, isn’t it? How do you go bankrupt? First slowly, then very quickly. 'Keir [Starmer] lost the dressing room. Andy’s biggest risk is that he loses the dealing room. And then that’s an even more painful way to go, as Liz Truss would tell you.' **Britain is at or close to being taxed out** 'The truth is, as a nation, we are at or close to being taxed out,” he says. “And we are at or close to being maxed out in terms of borrowing. 'So for me, the economics of this are very straightforward. We have a public sector, a government sector with a balance sheet whose productivity has failed to rise this century. And we have a private sector which is actually primed, its balance sheet is in good shape. 'If you want good growth in every postcode — dear God, I want that as much as the next man, probably just as much as Andy in fact — the root is by unlocking those animal spirits and that means a smaller state, lower taxes and that means lower government spending and tough choices around that' **The economy could 'crater' without spending cuts** “This is not a hypothetical risk. Look across the Channel, not just to what’s happening in France, but what’s happening in Greece or Italy or Portugal or Spain a decade and a bit ago. Avoid that like the plague 'Because when you are forced involuntarily into making much more draconian cuts to appease financial markets and get them back on side that will, one, crater the economy. And, two, almost certainly crater your popularity 'That for me is the peril that comes from prevarication on this front. The peril that comes from not using up political capital and making hard choices' **A 'mañana' Budget does not speak to the urgency of now** 'The public finances dimension is of course a real concern for me. I feel the time to get on top of that is now because who knows what might turn up tomorrow. And a mañana budget doesn’t speak to the urgency of now 'The mañana choices will not be easier tomorrow. They’re going to be much harder. So backloading them, crossing your fingers and hoping that the weather turns, for me would not be the preferred course, would not be the prudent course, and risks next year being even more of a heavy lift than would otherwise be the case' **Banking taxes are 'penny wise, pound foolish'** 'The point that actually weighs with me most heavily is that this isn’t just about the banks. If you are felt to be a country that is in the business of doing windfall taxes — if you earn profits, the taxman cometh — that is not a hospitable environment for investors. 'It means you mark down the value of UK businesses and mark up the cost of lending money to those businesses. And that is not a good growth strategy over the medium term. Penny wise, pound foolish' **What does ending 40 years of neoliberalism mean?** 'Have you been to Manchester? You know it’s the embodiment of neoliberalism done well. Success is founded on being a magnetic attractor of capital, or people, of business and culture. That’s what the UK should become' **What does public control of utilities mean?** 'From kind of full fat nationalisation, which would cost an arm and a leg, right through to tinkering with the regulatory rules. If you’re in the water industry, the energy industry, parts of the transport industry, investors are saying, ‘Hang on a sec, I’m not putting money in here.' thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…