'No return to free movement': Yvette Cooper doubles down on her refusal to back EU youth mobility scheme
The Home Secretary has again refused to back a potential EU youth mobility Scheme, which could see free work visas for young UK workers.
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Speaking on Sunday with Lewis Goodall, the Home Secretary once again refused to back the idea of free EU work and travel for under 30s in Britain.
“What we’re not going to do is get into the commentary on the EU-UK discussions,” she said.
“In the same way that we didn't on the US and the India trade arrangements. So, there's a broader approach, but there's a broader approach that we've taken deliberately.”
“It's how we got the US and the India trade agreements, we agreed not to keep running commentaries and we’re doing the same thing on the EU.”
Ms Cooper has made it clear that bringing migration numbers down is her priority, and that she doesn’t want to open the door to free movement.
“The thing I would say, though, about those proposals is there's a couple of bottom lines here, which is no return to free movement,” she said.
“And also net migration must come down. That is the clear requirement."
Ms Cooper has previously told LBC her main concern is bringing net migration from the EU down.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari on April 29, she called the scheme “speculation”, and hinted at its potential to increase headline migration numbers.
"It's not something we put forward, we've been clear that net migration needs to come down... it quadrupled in four years,” she told Nick.
"There's a lot of speculation and reports... there will be up until the summit. I'm not going to comment on that…”
"We are working closely with the EU on how we can improve action and to reduce irregular migration. The bottom line will be making sure net migration comes down."
Ms Cooper’s opposition to the scheme is in direct contrast to other senior cabinet members. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is an advocate for the scheme, believing it could boost the UK economy.
In April, Ms Reeves told LBC that discussions on such a scheme are "ongoing at the moment".
"There will be a summit between the UK and the EU in May. And that summit will be focused on reducing some of the trade barriers that exist between our countries,” she said.
Ms Reeves went on to say it would be “non-negotiable” that “there would be no return to free movement in the EU”.
She then stressed her commitment to bring net migration numbers down.
The scheme, set to be discussed with Brussels at an EU-UK summit on May 19, could allow Brits under 30 to live and work in the EU for up to four years.
The scheme would not take the same form as free movement, and would require special visas and conditions for stay.
The summit on May 19 is also expected to discuss defence, trade, migration and an alignment of standards.