Three graphs reveal 'eye-watering' impact of PM's incoming Erasmus deal as fears of Brexit betrayal skyrocket

Ever since it emerged last year that the Labour Government would rejoin the scheme, which allows people to study and train across much of Europe for up to a year, Brexiteers have warned that it would amount to restoring freedom of movement.

The latest report from Brexit Facts4EU think-tank, in collaboration with The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK) and Stand for Our Sovereignty, crystallises these fears, with Reform UK's Education Spokesman branding it a "Brexit betrayal".

Suella Braverman told the People's Channel: “Rejoining the Erasmus scheme is Labour’s latest Brexit betrayal.

“Not only is it the first step to freedom of movement in all but name but British taxpayers also face paying an eye watering bill for the privilege.

“This Government has yet again failed to negotiate a good deal for the country.”

The Erasmus+ scheme is set to cost the taxpayer over 14 times more then the current Turing scheme does for Year 1 alone.

GB News is also able to exclusively reveal that this will rise to more then 20 times in Year 2, at the current rates.

This means that the first-year payment to the EU for 2027/2028 will be "approximately £570million."

Lord Redwood did not hold back after reading the findings.

The veteran Brexiteer said: "These devastating charts from Facts4EU show how big a sell-out the government has signed.

"UK taxpayers will be robbed again to pay for tens of thousands of EU students to come, whilst UK students will lose out.

"This weak, anti-Brexit Government is falling over itself to give more money to the EU and to let them run the UK as their colony.

"The Government is doing bad deals in its haste to undermine the referendum decision of the people they said they would respect."

The report also reveals that 99.6 per cent of students did not use the Erasmus+ scheme when it was in effect in the UK.

The first year of the UK's reentry in the scheme was announced to have a 30 per cent discount, which means that with the first year costing taxpayers £570million, from Year 2 of the scheme will see the UK billed £815million per annum.

Facts4EU point out within their report: "These are massive sums when the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is apparently struggling to find urgent and desperately needed extra monies for defence."

Mrs Braverman continued: "We still need answers about the future of the highly successful Turing programme which, in 2024-2025, saw 40,000 outward placements for Brits compared to an average of around 10-15,000 outward placements for Brits under Erasmus, and at a significant fraction of the cost.

"Turing’s focus on widening access meant that 50-60 per cent of British participants were from disadvantaged backgrounds, and there is no doubt that they will suffer as a result of the decision to rejoin a scheme which is designed primarily for European university students and biases towards those with university education."

So, why is the Erasmus+ scheme so much more expensive? Since the UK’s exit, Erasmus+ no longer resembles anything like a student exchange scheme and includes under-30s coming for any reason loosely connected with education.

Crucially, the EU has also expanded it to include eligibility for young people from more countries, especially those lining up to join the EU, most of which are very poor.

This means the EU (including the UK) will be footing the bill and Facts4EU reports the extra is likely to be in excess of £1.5billion. The UK will in effect be subsidising the EU’s candidate countries.

The EU insisted the UK reduce its fee levels from the current average for overseas students of £22,000 per year down to the level paid by UK students, £9,000 per year. The difference is set to be footed by the UK taxpayer.

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