European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

3rd reading & 2nd reading & Committee negatived & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords & 3rd reading (Hansard) & 3rd reading (Hansard): House of Lords & Committee negatived (Hansard) & Committee negatived (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 30th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I speak as a Brit but also as a European. I will always be a proud European, though sadly no longer a citizen of the European Union. I remind noble Lords of my interest, as set out in the register, as Principal of Somerville College, Oxford. It is a proud day for everybody associated with the university, and I pay tribute to the extraordinary vaccination team and to the partnership with AstraZeneca which means that hundreds of millions throughout the world will be vaccinated on a not-for-profit basis—a reminder that we live in an interdependent world in which collaboration among scientists and researchers is crucial. The most extraordinary co-operation that we have enjoyed in the last 40 years is as part of the EU, but we are now on the outside, looking in, grasping at this very thin deal.

One of the great benefits to our universities has been participation in Horizon 2020 and the previous research and innovation programmes. The financial benefits were huge, but likewise the networking and the freedom of movement for our academics. I am glad that the UK will continue to participate in Horizon Europe and I look forward to details, including on freedom of movement for academics, researchers and students.

Students—indeed, all young people—seem to have been entirely forgotten where the deal is concerned. It is our young people who will suffer the long-term economic, social and cultural consequences of both Covid and Brexit. It is their horizons that have been drastically narrowed and their opportunities that have been curtailed. They will no longer have the freedom to live, work and study throughout the European Union. Those who are performing artists will no longer have permit-free access across the EU, and newly qualified doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, vets, engineers and architects will no longer enjoy mutual recognition of their professional qualifications.

Everyone engaged in Erasmus is devastated that we will no longer be participants. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, that it is short-sighted and mean-spirited. In January, the Prime Minister categorically said that its future was secure. The failure to live up to that statement will once more diminish the trust of young people in not only government, but politics, which is far more dangerous.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster suggested that Erasmus was being abandoned because, in addition to funding the new Turing scheme, the Government wished to invest more in disadvantaged young people. They could and should do that. He implied that Erasmus was for the elite, whereas in reality it is for students, trainees, apprentices, pupils, adult learners, youth workers and professionals of all organisations active in education, training and the youth sector. It is a brilliant tool of soft power, nurturing mutual understanding between not just individuals but institutions. It is also a great vehicle for social mobility, not to mention the learning of languages. We have few details of how the Turing scheme will work, so a large number of Written Questions will follow from me.

I recognise that we have to look to the future, and I will play my part in ensuring that all young people with whom I have contact, privileged and disadvantaged, understand the value of friendship, co-operation and collaboration with our European partners.