Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Keir Starmer didn’t rule out a youth mobility scheme involving the UK and Europe yesterday. But he didn’t rule it in either. Why would he? Brexiters whom he won over at the UK’s recent election might sniff backsliding towards Europe and abandon his party at the next opportunity. Never mind that that opportunity is nearly five years away; nor that the EU referendum was eight years ago; nor that polls since have shown a decisive shift in favour of EU membership and its benefits, among them youth mobility – a subset of the freedom all UK citizens enjoyed to travel, live and work in 27 neighbouring countries regardless of health, wealth, age, qualifications and facility with languages. In light of which, Starmer’s careful stance at a press conference in Berlin – where a youth mobility scheme was offered – may seem wise or infuriating, depending on your view.
What’s clear is that a sentient alien visiting Britain and reading the papers would reasonably conclude “freedom of movement” was a deadly virus. To avoid it the country is, for the time being, saying no to a scheme that would give 18-30 year-olds free EU movement for three years. That would be long enough, it’s true, for a young British citizen to meet a young EU citizen, fall in love, marry and thereby expose the Home Office to the risk of having to grant right of residence to the foreign-born spouse. Heaven forfend!
