Starmer opens door to deal with Spain on free movement of young people

The German ambassador to the UK suggested last week that easing border rules for young people would help Sir Keir renegotiate the UK’s post-Brexit deal.

Miguel Berger told Politico that the new treaty should cover “areas of common interest” such as a “youth mobility program.”

However, the government will have to face a backlash from some Brexiteers who oppose closer ties with the EU.

Mr Cleverly, who is running to be the next Conservative leader, said: “Labour said it wanted to cut migration and excluded the Youth Mobility Scheme from the EU at the election. Surprise, the U-turn has already started.

“Having seen ministers back the visa waiver, this shouldn’t come as a shock. But the British people have been betrayed yet again by Starmer.”

Political pressure is mounting on the left to take action on freedom of movement. The Liberal Democrats’ election manifesto called for the EU to join the UK’s Youth Mobility Scheme.

Sir Keir was once a big advocate of full freedom of movement, which allows any EU citizen to move to another country in the bloc. Brexit means the UK has been out of the system since February 2020.

When Sir Keir ran for Labour leader this year, he argued for the re-embrace of free movement in the EU. He said: “I want people in this country to be able to go and work abroad in Europe; and I want people in Europe to be able to come and work here. I want families to be able to live together – whether it’s in Europe or here.”

After winning the election, he resigned from his position.

Divisions in the EU

Mr Sánchez’s decision to raise the idea at the European Political Community meeting indicates that he believes the prime minister could be open to the proposal.

The conversation also raises the possibility of divisions within the EU.

One reason the European Commission proposed an EU-wide agreement was when it discovered that some European capitals were talking directly to London about concluding their own bilateral deals.

Doing direct deals with economies of a similar size, rather than with all EU countries, could be attractive to a Labour government because it would represent a smaller step towards re-engagement with the bloc and therefore potentially an easier political sell.

It could also be argued that the likelihood of low-skilled foreign workers coming en masse to the UK on such individual contracts would be minimised if the two countries had similar average wages.

A senior Government source cautioned against over-interpreting Sir Keir’s openness to the idea, saying he may simply have been polite as it was his first time meeting world leaders.