Starmer's Concession on Youth Travel: PM's New EU Deal May Unleash Border Floods

Keir Starmer might unlock Britain's borders for everyone. European Union with a youth mobility program that is essentially 'unrestricted'.

Sources close to talks on the scheme said British negotiators will try to cap EU arrivals allowed to work in Britain at between 70,000 and 80,000, and no higher than 100,000.

However, a tiered system could be implemented that would essentially permit unrestricted entries if sufficient British citizens move to mainland Europe.

A reference pointed out: "Should an unexpected influx of 500,000 British citizens travel to Europe occur, this might prompt Britain to allow a significantly higher number of European visitors as well, thereby balancing migration statistics."

Someone else suggested it might 'basically have no limit' if there were sufficient UK travelers interested.

The British negotiating team aims to establish a limit grounded in their assessment of how many Britons might participate in the program. On the other hand, the sliding scale approach could appease European Union negotiators, likely advocating for permits allowing several hundred thousand Europeans access into Britain.

However, this could be politically damaging for a Labour administration that has promised to reduce migration unless an equal number of British people move in the reverse direction.

Brussels is advocating for Europeans to have permission to bring along their family members and receive benefits in the UK under this program.

It is one of the most contentious areas yet to be fully negotiated for the Prime Minister's controversial 'reset' deal with the bloc, which was unveiled on Monday.

Sir Keir has stated that the number of people included would have an upper limit and he emphasized that their residence in the UK would be 'temporarily restricted' and dependent on acquiring a visa.

But he has refused to say how many could come or how long they could stay for. No10 insists letting arrivals bring dependants and claim benefits is a 'red line', but Brussels is expected to drive a hard bargain because most EU nations want this concession.

Fears of a cave-in will only be heightened by the fact that ministers spent months insisting they had 'no plans' for a youth mobility scheme, which was a key EU demand from the outset.

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