{"id":82888,"date":"2025-05-07T21:37:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T21:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/82888\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T21:37:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T21:37:15","slug":"labours-biggest-sign-yet-eu-youth-mobility-scheme-is-coming-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/82888\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour’s biggest sign yet EU youth mobility scheme is coming | Politics | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labour is accused of plotting a \u201cBrexit betrayal\u201d by preparing to sign up to a youth mobility scheme with the European Union<\/a>. Brexiteers fear the Government is \u201cselling us out\u201d and the scheme will be a \u201cfoot in the door\u201d for the return of freedom of movement.<\/p>\n

EU leaders will converge on London for a summit on May 19 and European relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has confirmed the Government is looking at a deal that would allow young people from member states to come to the UK and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Mr Thomas-Symonds told the Financial Times a \u201csmart, controlled youth mobility scheme would of course have benefits for our young people\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shadow Business and Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith said: \u201cAfter almost a year of denial \u2013 the mask has slipped: Labour is pursuing a youth mobility scheme with the EU.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should come as no surprise, Keir Starmer<\/a> is an arch-Remainer who campaigned for a second referendum with free movement of people. It looks like he\u2019s finally getting his way by the back door.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet again, he is selling the country down the river so he can cosy up to his beloved EU after saying he would do the opposite. You can\u2019t trust a word he says.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: \u201cThis Labour government\u2019s disregard for the British public knows no bounds. The economy is faltering, and their solution is to slash visa requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve crippled the economy through reckless net zero policies and endless tax hikes. They claim to be tough on immigration, yet continue to throw open our borders. The hypocrisy is unmatched.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Campbell Bannerman, a former MEP and ex-deputy leader of UKIP who now chairs the Conservative Democratic Organisation, warned: \u201cAn EU mobility scheme has been pushed by the EU, not the UK \u2013 we gain little benefit. This is all part of a planned charade leading up to the unnecessary and damaging reset.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a Brexit<\/a> betrayal and takes us back to EU free movement. Don\u2019t forget, another 10 countries aim to join the EU \u2013 mostly poorer ones \u2013 who could then exploit this scheme and push up the numbers to the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a foot in the door for free movement which the British people so decisively rejected in the referendum. Labour are selling us out because they don\u2019t believe in Brexit<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Thomas-Symonds pointed out that Britain has mobility schemes with Australia and Uruguay, saying: \u201cNobody is suggesting any of those scheme, smart and controlled, are about freedom of movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when asked if he feared a backlash from Reform UK and the Conservatives<\/a>, he said: \u201cThis is a package for which we have a strong mandate from the British people. We need to move on from the debates of the past \u2013 this is forward-looking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where the European continent is in the mid-2020s, not where it was in 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is pushing for a \u201cbalanced youth mobility scheme between the UK and EU, covering school visits and exchanges, and a time-limited ability to work for young people\u201d.<\/p>\n

But John Longworth, a former director-general of the BCC who now chairs the Independent Business Network, warned that \u201callowing mobility for youth is to open the flood gates to immigration\u201d.<\/p>\n

Brexiteers will also be appalled if the Government commits to mirror UK standards on food and animal welfare.<\/p>\n

Mr Thomas-Symonds said the Government is \u201cnot interested\u201d in a \u201crace to the bottom on standards\u201d.<\/p>\n

When asked if a youth mobility scheme will be time-limited and whether numbers will be capped, he said: \u201cWe will consider sensible EU proposals in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour is accused of plotting a \u201cBrexit betrayal\u201d by preparing to sign up to a youth mobility scheme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,24482,5322,748,2000,31249,299,5187,1699,4884,8414,528,810,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-82888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-brexit-betrayal","10":"tag-brexit-news","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-eu-youth-mobility-scheme","14":"tag-europe","15":"tag-european","16":"tag-european-union","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-labour","19":"tag-labour-party","20":"tag-nick-thomas-symonds","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114468712885466969","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}