A youth mobility scheme with the European Union must benefit all young people, not just “middle class kids on their gap year”, a Labour MP has said.
Sir Keir Starmer had told the Commons the newly-agreed “youth experience scheme” will allow young British people to travel and work in Europe.
Prior to the announcement of the deal, the Government faced pressure from its backbench MPs to agree a scheme with Brussels which would benefit those under 30.
In the Commons, Jo White urged the Prime Minister to ensure all young people could benefit from the experiences of living abroad.
Meanwhile, Conservative former minister Esther McVey argued the scheme was “a bitter betrayal of British youth”, as she called for a cap on the numbers, to specifically protect “white working class boys”.
The Prime Minister faced further criticism from the Tories with Conservative former minister Mark Francois arguing dynamic alignment is “the most pernicious part of this deal”.
In a statement on the UK-EU summit, the Prime Minister said the Government should be “proud” to give young people the opportunity of a “controlled youth experience scheme”.
“It delivers for our young people, because we are now on a path towards a controlled youth experience scheme with firm caps on numbers and visa controls. A relationship we have with so many countries around the world, some actually even set up by the party opposite,” he added.
Ms White, MP for Bassetlaw, said: “What I want to know is how young people in my area will benefit from it, opening up to experiences and opportunities that they would have never otherwise dreamed of?
“This is a scheme that must not just benefit middle class kids on their gap year.”
Sir Keir replied: “I completely agree with her wholeheartedly, this has to benefit all of our young people, and we’ll make sure that it does, whether that’s work or travel or study, because it is a really important opportunity for young people that we would want to provide to them and to help them then to take advantage of.”
Earlier in the session, Ms McVey, MP for Tatton, said: “With youth unemployment higher in Europe, in countries like France, Spain, Portugal and Sweden, I can see why the EU pushed for a youth mobility scheme to help get their youth unemployment figures down.
“So can the Prime Minister tell the House what impact assessment he has done on his youth scheme for youth unemployment for young Brits, particularly white working class boys who suffer the most, and can he tell the House today the cap he has put on numbers for people coming into the UK? If he can’t, this is a bitter betrayal of British youth.”
Sir Keir replied: “This provides young people in the United Kingdom the opportunity to work, to study and to travel in Europe. It is going to be a capped scheme of limited duration and with visas, something, again, everybody said we couldn’t negotiate. We have negotiated.”
Green Party MP Ellie Chown (Herefordshire) accused the Prime Minister of being “timid” on the youth mobility scheme.
In his response, he said: “What we have now negotiated is a scheme that does not cross our red lines, but it’s good for young people, both here and in Europe.”
Elsewhere in the session, Mr Francois, Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, claimed the UK will become an “automatic rule-taker” as a result of the deal with the EU.
He said: “The most pernicious part of this deal is dynamic alignment, by which we become an automatic rule-taker from the European Union.
“Labour have been briefing journalists we have an opt-out from that. I’ve read the document in detail – we don’t – and besides, the ECJ (European Court of Justice) is the ultimate arbiter in a dispute. It is so the EU will always win.
“Why, Prime Minister, when the British people voted peacefully and democratically to leave the European Union, have you surrendered that right and made us a rule-taker to the EU once again?”
Sir Keir said he had “forgotten about some of the nonsense that’s spouted” and added: “On the question of how the rules are made – they will go through a parliamentary process in this House.”
Labour backbenchers shouted “shut up” as Mr Francois said “subject to the ECJ” from his seat.
The Prime Minister continued: “Every trade deal has an arbitration clause to deal with the settlement of disputes. All trade deals have that, including all the trade deals that they have negotiated.
“On the question of the ECJ, if there’s an issue of European law that needs to be referred by the independent arbitrators to the court, they then give a ruling on the interpretation, it passes back to the arbitrators to make the final decision.”
Sir Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex, said the Prime Minister is “giving up control over our laws and restoring payments to the European Union. He will pay a bitter political price for this betrayal”.
Sir Keir replied: “We were told it was impossible to negotiate a better deal with the EU with those red lines, we’ve just done it. We have also shown that we are outside the EU because, he will appreciate, that having a deal with India and the US is inconsistent with membership of the EU.
“There could be no better evidence that we’re not going back into the EU, nor are these negotiations on that basis.”
