Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves the stage after delivering a speech during a reception in Downing Street, central London on May 19, 2025 following the UK-EU Summit earlier in the day.
Photo: Hannah McKay / POOL / AFP
If the Labour PM’s capitulation on fishing rights is anything to go by, Brussels will have Britain over the table on youth movement.
Britain’s agreement to a ‘youth experience’ scheme with the European Union is good news for the middle-aged, given that it describes 35-year-olds as young. But it is bad news for those opposed to continued mass migration.
It is also proof, after months of denial—long rejected in these pages—that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s team has always been open to pursuing a so-called ‘youth mobility scheme,’ which one migration expert previously toldeuropeanconservative.com “is literally synonymous with freedom of movement, an institution that the British public steadfastly rejected in 2016.”
As part of his Brexit ‘reset’ deal with Brussels, Starmer has agreed to allow ‘young’ people from EU member states to travel to Britain—and vice versa—to work, study or simply travel for a ‘limited period.’ Many details have yet to emerge about this plan, though already it has been revealed that Brussels will push for the families of young Europeans to be allowed into Britain, too.
The scheme could not play better into the hands of Nigel Farage’s Reform party, which political academic Matthew Goodwin described as being put on “steroids” by the prime minister’s betrayal, adding:
Starmer and his team have decided to respond to the rise of a pro-Brexit, anti-immigration party that draws much of its strength from the working-class and disillusioned voters in coastal towns by presiding over a deal that appears hard-wired to push even more of these voters straight into Farage’s arms.
Many of the specifics regarding this youth movement scheme are set to be ironed out in upcoming negotiations, and if Starmer’s capitulation on fishing rights is anything to go by, Brussels will be laughing after these talks too.
For example, it remains unclear how many visas could be awarded annually and how long they would be valid for.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the lack of proper details will prompt “fears of free movement returning” between Britain and the EU.
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice also warned that freedom of movement is being brought “through the back door” with the youth mobility scheme, adding: “The prime minister will pay for this in the polls.”
'This is a triple surrender – the Prime Minister will pay for this in the polls.'
Some 'hard-won Brexit freedoms' are being lost today, @TiceRichard tells @NickFerrariLBC, adding that freedom of movement is being brought 'through the back door' with the youth mobility scheme. pic.twitter.com/tV9Fqzhx2X
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
