Andy Burnham has been slammed over his stance on the Brexit referendum after the wannabe Prime Minister repeatedly dodged the issue when challenged by the Daily Express.

Mr Burnham officially launches his campaign for the crunch Makerfield by-election today, but key questions remain over his flip-flopping position on the European Union. He performed a major climbdown earlier this week, saying he was no longer pushing for Britain to go back into the EU, just months after declaring: “I want to rejoin”.

To get a definitive answer, we decided to meet Mr Burnham on his morning run.

But the Greater Manchester Mayor refused to respond to our questions on Thursday when asked if he still wanted to rejoin the bloc.

And he was unusually quiet when asked why he had decided not to talk about Brexit, despite contesting a seat in which 65% of people voted to leave the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Mr Burnham, who has repeatedly been snapped going for an early morning jog, chose to leg it when asked if he would respect the largest democratic vote in British history.

Undaunted, we challenged him again as he returned from his run.

But the former Cabinet Minister showed us a clean pair of heels when he was asked “if you want to be Prime Minister, you should probably answer questions about Brexit”.

Not to be outdone, this newspaper, which successfully campaigned to leave the European Union, tried again through Mr Burnham’s spokesperson.

But our efforts were in vain, triggering an angry reaction.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: "Andy Burnham won't answer questions about Brexit because he knows he's completely out of touch with the people of Makerfield.

"No amount of backtracking changes the fact that he is a die-hard EU fanatic. Makerfield voters voted to leave the EU to stop large-scale immigration yet Burnham seems quite happy for yet more immigration.”

Dan Carden, chairman of the Blue Labour group of MPs, has also warned the party against dismissing the referendum vote.

Our new campaign, for Westminster to "Give Us A Proper Brexit", is calling for the UK to exit the ECHR, slash red tape and create a 12-mile exclusion zone around the coast to protect British fishing.

Many of the issues are likely to come up on the doorstep in the June 18 by-election, which was triggered after ex-Labour MP Josh Simons stepped down from the seat to give Mr Burnham a pathway to Parliament.

It is widely believed that the Mayor will seek to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour Party leadership and the position of Prime Minister, should he win the seat and return to Parliament.

Mr Burnham’s stance on Britain’s relations with Europe could become vital if he wins in Makerfield and ousts Sir Keir.

June 23 marks the 10-year anniversary of the historic in/out referendum, while the next UK-EU summit has been earmarked for July 13.

A Brussels source told the Daily Express: “How can this go ahead if no one knows who will be the UK Prime Minister then and if it’s the new guy - what is his position on the EU?”

Speaking at the Labour Party conference last September, Mr Burnham said he wanted to rejoin the EU, adding: “Long term, I'll be honest, I'm going to say it, I want to rejoin.”

But he reversed his position on Monday, saying he “respected” the referendum result.

My view is that Brexit has been damaging, but I also believe the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments.

“I am not proposing that the UK consider rejoining the EU.”

As confusion continues over Mr Burnham’s position on the EU, Sir Keir’s plans to “reset” relations with the bloc have been dealt a blow with MPs blasting the Government secrecy and a lack of vision.

The Prime Minister’s future is hanging in the balance as he attempts to strike what he hopes is a legacy-defining deal with the EU as part of his ambition to put Britain at the “heart of Europe”.

But the Foreign Affairs Committee – which earlier this year sounded the alarm about a lack of transparency and scrutiny about Sir Keir’s plans – is dismayed by the Government’s “woefully inadequate” response to its concerns, which it condemns as “waffly”.

Dame Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, has raised concerns about the “piecemeal and secretive approach” the Government has taken to negotiations.

In a blistering attack, she said: “It is frequently evasive and waffly rather than what we hoped would be thoughtful and substantial policy.

“This is truly thin gruel and only serves to reinforce my committee’s conclusions in our report: the Government has no clear strategic priorities nor vision for its UK-EU reset, which given it is central to Government policy, is very disappointing.”