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Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
The Liberal Democrats have called for freedom of movement for young people within the EU, piling pressure on Labour to reconsider such a scheme.
The party, now Britain’s third biggest after a surge in July’s general election, said the idea was a “common sense” move to improve the prospects of young people in the UK.
With Sir Keir Starmer embarking on a reset of relations with the European Union, the Lib Dems have joined a growing chorus of campaigners calling for a youth mobility scheme.
The party is calling for the extension of an agreement Britain already has with countries including Australia and Japan, which lets 18 to 35-year-olds move and work freely between countries for up to two years.
A motion passed at the party’s conference in Brighton calls for negotiations to extend the scheme to EU countries.
It also calls for Britain to return to the Erasmus Plus programme, negotiate passport and visa-free school trips between the UK and EU, and to take action against roaming charges in place since Britain’s departure from the EU.
Labour have so far resisted pressure to agree a free movement deal for young people, with Downing Street saying it is not under consideration.
Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman Layla Moran said: “The Conservative government abandoned young people and our economy by trashing our relationship with Europe.
“A new agreement on youth mobility between the UK and our European neighbours is just common sense to help young people work and travel around the continent.
“Young people already have the chance to use similar schemes for many other countries across the globe. There’s simply no reason why we shouldn’t look to expand it to our European neighbours, which will offer amazing opportunities for generations to come.
“The Liberal Democrats are committed to fixing our broken relationship with Europe and pushing for the fair deal young people deserve.”
The Lib Dem scheme would also extend the length of the visa scheme from two to three years.
It comes after Sir Keir used a visit to Washington DC to say he was “very serious” about his post-Brexit reset with the EU, after years of acrimonious relations under the Conservatives.
“I think that’s clear enough from the work we’ve been doing in the last few weeks since the election,” he told The Independent.
He added: “I made this very clear initially at the Nato summit in Washington with European colleagues then at the summit with the European political community, which we hosted. And then obviously, as you’ve seen, I’ve been twice to Berlin, twice to Paris. I was with the taoiseach [Simon Harris] last Saturday.
“We’re very serious about that. Obviously, we have a long way to go.”
But, asked whether Labour would consider a youth mobility scheme with the EU, the government has said it prefers bilateral agreements rather than seeking a deal with the bloc as a whole.
A government spokesman has said: “The Government has not proposed any plans for a youth mobility scheme with the EU. We are clear that there will be no return to freedom of movement, re-joining the single market or customs union.”
