Reeves Rolls Pitch for Massive Costly EU Free Movement Scheme – Guido Fawkes

Reeves Rolls Pitch for Massive Costly EU Free Movement Scheme

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Rachel from the complaints department has been rolling the pitch for an EU Youth Mobility Scheme – the scheme which Labour ministers have continually denied (even in Parliament) that they are considering. Ahead of next month’s crunch EU-UK summit on 19 May, some entirely coincidental analysis from the Centre for European Reform has ended up in the newspapers, and suggests such a scheme could “boost GDP.” Heard that one before…

That is not GDP per capita, of course, and given that most uptake will be from students or low-skilled staff such as in hospitality, it’s unlikely to move the dial on UK growth. It is likely to further disincentivise young Brits from taking similar jobs in the UK, at a time when youth unemployment is going up the agenda…

As the debate over immigration rages with Farage and Jenrick setting the agenda, Labour is madly playing with fire as it plans to introduce a “generous” visa programme – which the government has declined to comment on in detail – leaving questions open as to a cap and the scheme’s overall design. The EU will be unlikely to give Starmer any deal without such a programme, as Guido warned he has trapped himself before negotiations even really began…