Starmer: We are serious and ambitious about reset with EU
But the Prime Minister said his Government has no plans for a youth mobility scheme.
Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “very serious” about an EU reset and that he wants to be “ambitious about what we can achieve”.
Since taking office, the Prime Minister has held talks in Paris and Berlin in a sign of his desire to seek closer relations with key figures in the EU.
An agreement on youth mobility has been suggested by Brussels and could be a key demand in any negotiations but Sir Keir reiterated that there were “no plans” for such a scheme.
Questioned on whether he was serious about an EU reset following criticism from Brussels on the youth mobility scheme, the PM said: “I’m very serious about it.
“I think that’s clear enough from the work we’ve been doing in the last few weeks since the election.
“I made this very clear initially at the summit in Washington with European colleagues, the Nato summit at the European political community, which we hosted.
“And then, obviously, as you’ve seen, I’ve been twice to Berlin, twice to Paris. I was with the Taoiseach (Simon Harris) last Saturday.
“”We’re very serious about that. Obviously, there’s a long way to go.”
Sir Keir continued: “I want to be ambitious about what we can achieve within the EU reset.
“That does not mean going back into the EU, that does not mean going back into the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement. So they are the red lines within that framework.”
He insisted that the negotiation “needs to be done in the proper way”.
Pressed on the youth mobility scheme, he said “we have no plans to do the youth mobility scheme”.
Sir Keir declined to explain his objections to the scheme or if it could come up as a negotiating point.
Asked if it was “ruled out”, he repeated: “We have no plans for a youth mobility scheme.”
