While the U-turn on rejoining the EU’s Horizon scheme is welcome, spare a thought for the Erasmus Plus scheme, less well-financed but much more influential among young people (EU diplomats hope Horizon deal could be first of many with UK, 7 September). This provides exchange programmes for young people to travel and study in other countries, promotes shared learning and recognition of qualifications, and allows academic exchanges for individual staff.
Rejoining that scheme as well as Horizon (which, like many other things, was originally promised before the Brexit vote) would be a real step forward. The Tory “replacement” Turing scheme is a poor substitute, with annual funding leading to uncertainty among participating institutions and no provision for incoming students. It is emblematic of this government’s attitude to other countries – we don’t want “them” coming over here. In 2020, it also brought less money into the UK than the Erasmus Plus did. So that’s another Brexit bonus?
James Churchill
Baslow, Derbyshire
