By Daniel Boffey Political Editor

Sunak rejects offer of youth mobility scheme between EU and UK

By Daniel Boffey, Political editor

Published: Sat 25 Dec 2021 09.00 EST

The UK government has rejected an offer from the EU to create a youth mobility scheme that would allow young people from the UK and EU to live and work in each other's countries for up to three years.

The scheme would have been similar to the existing Erasmus+ programme, which allows students from EU countries to study and work in other EU countries.

However, the UK government said that it was not interested in joining the Erasmus+ programme, and that it would instead create its own youth mobility scheme.

The government's decision has been met with disappointment from young people and businesses.

The British Youth Council said that the government's decision was "a missed opportunity" to create a "valuable opportunity" for young people.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that the government's decision was "short-sighted" and that it would make it more difficult for businesses to recruit young workers.