Youth Mobility Scheme

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

That is a genuinely interesting question, and that is one of the reasons why our rejoining Erasmus could be so beneficial to our country. One of the issues—which is part of our conversations about the youth mobility scheme, as well as rejoining Erasmus—is the economic impact it will have, while ensuring that we have opportunities to share scientific endeavours and discoveries. It will also provide us with opportunities to ensure that our social and creative work is shared with our closest allies.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

There has not been a Labour contribution yet, so it is the turn of my noble friend.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is this not yet another example of how badly the previous Government negotiated the Brexit deal, leaving our young people with worse options than they had before?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My noble friend raises a very important point. I campaigned for remain, though I lived in a leave area. I appreciate and fully respect the result of the referendum, and we need to make it work. That is not to say, however, that it came without a cost—paid by individuals, including our young people. The Turing scheme has been great, with 35,000 opportunities afforded by it, but 16 million young people had opportunities via the Erasmus scheme. This is a different scale, which is why we want to participate.