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Louise Thomas
Editor
Labour has rejected a free movement deal for young people with Spain after the country’s prime minister floated the idea with Sir Keir Starmer.
The government repeated the prime minister’s promise not to take Britain back into the single market, customs union or restore freedom of movement.
“And we are not considering a youth mobility scheme,” a government spokeswoman said.
It came after reports that Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez made the case for a UK-Spain agreement allowing Spanish young people to live in the UK.
During private talks with Sir Keir at the European Political Community (EPC) summit at Blenheim Palace in July, the PM is said to have said he will consider the proposal, along with other potential points.
A source told The Sunday Telegraph that Mr Sánchez made the pitch to Sir Keir as part of the new Labour PM’s drive to reset relations with European leaders.
Britain has individual youth mobility schemes with 13 countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada which lets them study or work in the UK for up to two years. EU nations are not included in the scheme, but the question of whether a post-Brexit deal can be struck has risen up the political agenda.
The UK government has said in the past that it prefers bilateral agreements rather than seeking an EU-wide deal.
In April the European Commission (EC) said it would seek permission from EU member states to open negotiations on a “youth mobility scheme” for UK citizens aged 18-30.
Thousands of voters have written to their MPs to demand they accept the offer.
Brussels has also confirmed that the EU offer of a youth mobility scheme with the UK is still on the table.
Sir Keir has made resetting Britain’s relations with the continent after Brexit one of his top priorities since becoming prime minister.
As well as hosting the EPC summit, he was in Paris on Friday for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, where he met other leaders after the event.
The Irish prime minister, Simon Harris, who is expected to be influential in any reset, has described the election of a new government as a potential “game-changer” for the bloc.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, minister for the constitution and European Union relations, also went to Brussels in his second week in the job to meet with EC vice-president Maros Sefcovic for a new round of Brexit talks.
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