Campaigners have welcomed reports that the Government is set of offer a reciprocal Youth Mobility Scheme to the EU.
Reports suggest that as part of the Prime Minister's relationship reset with Brussels, the Government is ready to offer a reciprocal EU-UK Youth Mobility Scheme that would allow a set number of young Europeans to work and travel in the UK for up to three years with young British people able to travel and work in the EU in return.
A reciprocal EU-UK Youth Mobility Scheme was first proposed by the cross-party UK trade and Business Commission in their landmark report published in May 2023.
Since then, Best for Britain has campaigned for such a scheme with Best for Britain polling in 2023 and 2024 showing a strong majority of the British public back the policy as part of a common sense deal with the EU.
Naomi Smith, CEO of Best for Britain which has campaigned for such a scheme since May 2023 said,
“If these reports are accurate, this is a very welcome and common sense move from the Government to give opportunities back to young Brits while helping businesses across the UK struggling with labour shortages.
"With our polling consistently showing that around 60% of voters back the idea, it really is a win-win for both the UK and EU.”