Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has acknowledged that Britain will face trade-offs as the Government pursues a closer relationship with the European Union, saying there are “costs as well as benefits” to the reset.
Asked about the possibility of thousands of young people from the EU entering Britain, the Cabinet minister said conversations with European counterparts would be accompanied by discussions with the British public, because the trade-offs involved could not be ignored.
Youth mobility scheme under negotiation
The issue is set to dominate the agenda this month as the Prime Minister attends the European Political Community (EPC) Summit this week, followed by a major UK-EU summit in Brussels on November 20.
A youth mobility scheme, which would allow young people from EU member states to live and work in the UK, is among the deals being negotiated ahead of the summit. The UK is reportedly pushing for a cap of around 50,000 arrivals a year, while the EU is seeking a limit closer to 150,000.
Ms Nandy, who represents the leave-voting Wigan constituency, suggested she does not support rejoining the trade bloc. She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that the British people are united on the fact that Brexit has not delivered its promised benefits.
Barnier warns against cherry picking
Michel Barnier, the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator, told the BBC that Britain cannot rejoin without accepting freedom of movement between the UK and the EU. He said: “There is no cherry picking. There will be no possibility to have one freedom and not the other. The four freedoms (of good, movement of people, services and capital) are clearly the four conditions to be inside the single market.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has reignited the debate over the UK-EU relationship since entering Downing Street this summer, has said Brexit did more harm than good and that a better relationship with the bloc could boost economic growth and help tackle illegal immigration.
Burnham sets out ambitions
Mr Burnham told the Sunday Mirror that any deals agreed at the upcoming summit are “not the end of our ambition” in improving ties with the bloc. He said practical agreements with Europe would pay off for families across the UK, including cutting red tape on food imports and exports to ease pressure on supermarket prices and help farmers and food producers.
He added: “Working more closely with Europe could drive growth, make our country safer and give us more tools to tackle illegal migration. That’s a conversation worth having.”
Separately, Ms Nandy rejected allegations that celebrating the UK rejoining Erasmus+ by linking it to Remembrance Sunday was inappropriate, after the Tories suggested she was using the civic occasion to make an EU membership pitch. She told Sky News: “I strongly, strongly disagree, and it’s Remembrance Sunday, it’s not a time for politicking.”
