Andy Burnham has called on Britain to openly consider its options regarding the European Union, including the possibility of rejoining the bloc.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the politician said he did not want to leave the question of the UK's EU relationship "hanging" and wanted clarity on "where we want Britain to go in the next decade."

Asked directly whether he wanted the UK to rejoin the EU, Burnham said he wanted to "look at the options." He acknowledged he had previously advocated rejoining within his lifetime, while adding it was "not necessarily the case that that is now."

"We could stay as we are. That's definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay," he said.

He outlined a range of possibilities under consideration. "We could look at what [former Chancellor] George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market, or we could go all the way."

"So there are clearly options that need to be considered, and we have to look at what is doable and what would be the pros and cons of each," he added.

In a conference speech on Tuesday, Burnham blamed Brexit for a loss of control over both immigration and the economy, telling delegates he did not believe the current relationship with the EU was "good enough."

He told activists he wanted to use a rescheduled summit later this year to lay out "different options" for the UK's long-term relationship with Europe, and promised to "find consensus" on a way forward, though he offered no further detail on how that consensus would be measured.

In response to Burnham's conference speech, Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart said: "Labour cannot pin the blame for their disastrous economic decisions on a vote that happened over a decade ago. Besides, they are already dragging us into the European Union via the back door with their EU reset."