Britain’s Labour government is moving ahead with plans for an “ambitious” youth mobility deal with the European Union, a scheme that would allow tens of thousands of young Europeans to live and work in the UK each year, competing with British graduates.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves claims the agreement will boost economic growth and help fill a £30 billion budget shortfall—but the plan looks increasingly like the thin end of the wedge for restoring free movement.
EU documents have already described youth mobility as “an indispensable element” of any future UK-EU relationship, and Brussels has warned it will not proceed with Starmer’s Brexit “reset” unless Britain accepts the scheme. Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said long before Labour took power that no UK-EU trade deal would advance without it.
What began as a cap of 50,000 visas has reportedly climbed to 70,000—roughly the same as the total annual migration intake many politicians once promised voters as a maximum number. And Brussels is now expected to demand that families of these so-called “youths” be allowed entry too, echoing the EU’s long-standing push to water down Britain’s post-Brexit border controls.
Labour’s record shows why Brussels is confident. Starmer opposed Brexit, fought to overturn the 2016 referendum result, and now seeks alignment not only on migration but also on food regulations, energy policy, and even European Court of Justice oversight.
Former Brexit minister David Frost has condemned Labour for “selling out this country’s self-government to a foreign court,” while Reform UK warns the deal will “bring back free movement through the back door.”
With Starmer capitulating on fishing rights, energy caps, and now migration, EU leaders can see Britain bending ever closer to Brussels’ orbit. For millions who voted to leave in 2016, Labour’s youth mobility scheme looks less like economic policy—and more like the slow, deliberate dismantling of Brexit itself.
