Keir Starmer’s Europe Minister has refused to deny the Government is caving in to EU demands for a youth mobility scheme, saying he will not “pre-empt” announcements to be made next week. Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds was responding to Conservative Party calls not to “row back on Brexit” ahead of a joint summit between the UK and EU in London on May 19. It will mark the start of Sir Keir’s efforts to “reset” relations with the EU.
Mr Thomas-Symonds, whose responsibilities include the Constitution and European Union Relations, insisted Labour will not reintroduce freedom of movement, the customs union or single market with the European Union. But supporters of the youth mobility scheme, which could mean people aged 30 and under from across the EU have the right to work in the Uk for four years, say it is not the same as freedom of movement.
He told MPs: “With negotiations ongoing, they go back to re-hash the arguments of the past. No analysis as to where the United Kingdom’s interest lies in the mid-2020s.
“They simply don’t believe in Britain’s ability to win. Perhaps that’s no surprise given the 14 years of failure they delivered for our country.”
Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said the party needed to give clarity on whether it would pursue a youth mobility scheme while the Liberal Democrats’ Europe spokesman James MacCleary said the party should sign the agreement to give young people greater opportunities.
Mr Burghart said: “What we’re asking today is for the Labour Party to set out what its clear position is and I’ll explain in a moment why that’s very important. The fact is that what we’ve seen up until this point is chaos in these negotiations.
“It’s easy for the Labour Party to understand, because on the 24th of February we’ll have heard the Home Secretary rule out a youth mobility deal. You’re not going to do it, not looking into it. But then at the beginning of March, the Paymaster General (Nick Thomas-Symonds) in a Westminster Hall debate suggested that he was open to it.
“But then on the 24th of April the Paymaster General again ruled it out. But then at the beginning of May the Paymaster General, once again, ruled it in.”
One Labour MP has called for a “capped, controlled, balanced youth mobility scheme”. Tom Hayes told the Commons: “On that question of expanding opportunities within the UK-EU relationship, I’m particularly struck by the need for a capped, controlled, balanced youth mobility scheme.
“Around our country, in my constituency of Bournemouth East, we have young people who are suffering generational challenges that their predecessors did not face, be it their inability to buy a home at an affordable amount, be it their inability to have secure work, be it their inability to get the education that they want, be it the fact that they’ve gone through a cost of living crisis and a pandemic.
“Surely, we owe it to our younger generation to provide them with some of the conditions that will allow for a better life, and a capped, balanced, controlled youth mobility scheme is key to that.”
Mr Hayes said a youth mobility scheme would be “not just beneficial for the youth of the UK” but also for English language schools.
“And this is critical,” Mr Hayes continued, adding: “We are living in an insecure world.
“Britain’s soft power is so critical to ensuring that we are respected around the world. By bringing people to the UK and particularly to sunny Bournemouth for one to two weeks or four to six weeks before they go home, they get a sense of how wonderful, how open, how accepting we are as a country.”