Why is Starmer so afraid of free movement?

His line isn’t a new one, but it remains disappointing. Metro mayors including London’s Sadiq Khan and Manchester’s Andy Burnham have long argued for the benefits of a youth scheme. The Liberal Democrats have also been pushing the government for a change. Earlier this month, a cross-party group of over 70 MPs wrote an open letter to No10.

In it, they argued that “establishing a Youth Mobility Scheme would not only offer huge benefits to young people but also would have a broader range of benefits including strengthening cultural, social and economic links between the EU and the UK”. The plan would be, according to them, a “no-brainer”.

Far from being intransigeant, the EU has shown a willingness to negotiate, by proposing annual limits on participants, as well as requiring financial self-sufficiency from the young people hoping to travel.

Still, the government is unwilling to budge, with home secretary Yvette Cooper apparently leading the charge against the policy. It is, at risk of pointing out the obvious, a frustrating state of affairs. The government may well fear that any even minuscule changes to the post-Brexit status quo would draw the ire of the right-wing press, but they cannot, by definition, run the country in a way that their opponents would always agree with.

No-one here is arguing for a return to full-fat freedom of movement, and the slope would only be slippery if they allowed it to be. Giving young people the opportunity to live and work in Europe for a few years would hardly represent a capitulation to Brussels. After all, young EU citizens would only gain access to one another country; our youths would regain the right to establish ties with a whole continent. 

Crucially, the scheme could do great things for the ever-so-stagnant British economy. Dynamic young people living abroad for a few years may gain qualifications they wouldn’t have gained in Britain. They could learn from our neighbours then return and share the spoils with everyone. 

They could learn new languages, establish new ties, get new ideas, making themselves and their country richer in the process. Similarly, we could really do with some bright young things from those neighbouring countries, shaking things up and bringing their enthusiasm to our shores.

In an ideal world, any initiative aimed at building links between countries and people should be welcome for its own sake, but that is not the place we live in. Instead, it ought to be pointed out that, from a purely self-centered angle, a scheme like this one would obviously benefit Britain.

Our workforce is knackered and people are feeling beaten down, following years of austerity, mad politics and ever-rising cost of living. An injection of new blood could do us a world of good, and it would come with very few strings attached. How many other non-EU countries wish they could have what we’re being offered?

Starmer’s continued refusal to see the offer for what it is is disheartening, precisely because it would so obviously make the UK a better, more prosperous place. Labour spent years railing against the Conservatives’ desire to put party before country, but that is exactly what they are doing right now.

Hiding in fear from the tabloids’ anger, they’re choosing to make the lives of young people worse than they could be. It is a strategy that may work in the short term, but they should be careful about what comes next. Under-30s are currently saddled with incredible amounts of debt from university, pay more taxes than most and are unlikely to ever be able to afford a home.

What they need is a government that makes their lives and futures brighter. What will happen when those young people look to Westminster and realise that their needs and lives aren’t being prioritised? Let’s hope Starmer doesn’t have to find out.