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
• Your news report and the piece by Simon Jenkins (Britain can recover from the self-harm of Brexit. Today’s return to the EU’s Horizon project shows how, 7 September) make no mention of Boris Johnson’s act of cultural vandalism in taking us out of the Erasmus Plus programme. Perhaps because Erasmus benefited not only higher education but also schools, colleges, youth groups and adult education, it lacked the powerful lobby put up (rightly) by the more cohesive scientific community.
Is it now time for these groups to be similarly vocal and to campaign for readmission to this programme? At the very least, as a starting point, schools could be readmitted to the eTwinning programme and begin to restore some of the relationships built up with teachers and youngsters across the EU.
Ray Kirtley
UK Global Learning Association for Schools
• Wonderful news that the UK seems set to rejoin our European scientist colleagues. This always seemed like a no-brainer considering the importance of the UK contribution to the European science effort. But a word of caution – EU students, since Brexit, have to pay overseas fees for PhD and other research programmes in UK universities. It is unlikely that the Horizon budget will stretch to paying this, which will restrict the UK to using only home students. Mobility of students is one of the most powerful key elements of the Horizon programme. How will this be managed?
Michael Anderson
Lymm, Cheshire
• If we’re moving closer to Brussels (Editorial, 8 September), perhaps moving towards re-embracing the EU’s famous four freedoms, we should consider the need to reform freedom of movement.
The almost unrestricted mass immigration from eastern Europe to the UK that followed EU enlargement caused the grassroots precariat unrest that led to the rise of Ukip and eventually to the leave result. In 2017, Tony Blair, who’d promoted and celebrated the 2004 enlargement, had a change of heart. He called on the EU to reform free movement to show leave voters “their concerns are better met without the damage Brexit will do”. His belated appeal was ignored, but the idea was right. Tory failures may have restored the “red wall”, but a return to unfettered free movement will revive Ukip.
Chris Hughes
Leicester
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