It has only been a week since Andy Burnham’s big reshuffle and there are a fair few ministers still trying to get their feet under the desk. For Hamish Falconer, the newly-bumped-up Minister for European Relations, the world of Eurocrat lunchathons should make for a rather pleasant change from his previous post as the Minister for the Middle East. But in switching from ‘war war’ to ‘jaw jaw’, it seems that Falconer, son of Labour peer Charlie, will have to take care in minding his every word on the subject of Europe.

With Burnham seemingly unable or unwilling to disclose his thinking on, er,........

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