Given the once febrile reaction in Westminster to any talk of getting closer to Brussels, there was a surprisingly muted response from Brexiteers to Britain’s deal to pay £570 million (€650 million) to rejoin the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme.
The Daily Telegraph, the broadsheet bible of the Tories, ran a story on its website on Wednesday morning when the deal was first announced, but it was nowhere to be found on its home page by the afternoon.
The Daily Express relegated its coverage mainly to a piece based on a single tweet by broadcaster Andrew Neil, who criticised UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s negotiating skills over the deal. But the piece wasn’t really critical of the decision to rejoin itself.
The Tory party’s Alex Burghart made a half-hearted attempt to accuse Starmer of “caving in to a big Brussels demand”. But again, he focused on cost, which could top €850 million for the UK from 2028 onwards – they got a one-off 30 per cent discount for 2027.
READ MORE
Prime minister’s questions at noon every Wednesday in the House of Commons is like a weekly temperature reading for Westminster politics – if something is developing as an issue, it is bound to be mentioned here. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch didn’t even refer to the Erasmus deal at PMQs, two-and-a-half hours after it was formally announced.
[ Britain and EU ties grow as UK to rejoin Erasmus youth schemeOpens in new window ]
All of this suggests that the issue of Britain developing closer ties with the EU is not as verboten as it once was in UK politics.
But that is not to say the Erasmus deal should be interpreted as a rolling back of Brexit. It would be over-egging it to portray Wednesday’s deal as evidence that Starmer is prepared to move on his Brexit “red lines” – no rejoining the single market, no entering the Customs Union and no return to free movement for EU citizens.
There was always a pledge in Labour’s election manifesto to rejoin the programme, which allows students, trainees, young teachers and others to do a year abroad.
The sheer number of European students keen to learn English ensured the take-up of the Erasmus scheme on the Continent always outweighed its use by British students heading for a year abroad.
Before Brexit three times as many European students came to Britain as went the other way. But by expanding the programme to now include apprentices, those in adult education and for sports and culture opportunities, it means the UK can try to tailor it to boost the take-up by British citizens. The UK estimates up to 100,000 might benefit.
But while it doesn’t mean Brexit is being rolled back, the deal on Erasmus is a clear indicator that the reset agreed by London and Brussels at a summit in May remains on track. Next up are potential deals on electricity and food exports.
There is another, more domestic political advantage in Labour government concluding the Erasmus deal. It may help the party appeal more to younger voters who are deserting it in droves.
In the Erasmus programme’s previous guise, fewer UK students went abroad compared with the numbers coming in. But it was still hugely popular among young people in Britain and an entire generation since it ended in 2021 have been deprived of the experience. Its return will go down well with younger voters.
Labour needs all the help it can get to boost its popularity with this cohort. A Savanta poll for ITV in November showed support for the Green Party among 18-25 year olds doubled to 32 per cent between March and November.
Meanwhile, it almost halved for Labour to 25 per cent.
Reform’s support among the young, especially young men, is also growing, and is now at 20 per cent. Labour must wriggle free of the Green-Reform pincer that threatens it.
