Erasmus breakthrough shows the route back from Brexit

One of the hidden costs of Brexit was that Britain put itself at a disadvantage with EU negotiators by starting from a position of: “We don’t like you.”

- JOHN RENTOUL

One of the hidden gains of a Labour government, therefore, is that EU negotiators know that they are talking to people who think differently from the last lot. This makes it easier to secure deals that benefit both sides.

Britain’s return to the Erasmus youth exchange programme is evidence that the change is working. The two sides agreed terms surprisingly quickly. I am told that the British team didn’t expect to reach a deal this year, but that good relations between Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Europe minister who has just been promoted to the status of attending cabinet, and Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s chief negotiator, made the early breakthrough possible.

The Conservatives pretend that they think the Erasmus scheme is poor value for money. That is what Boris Johnson said when he failed to keep Britain in it as he negotiated his withdrawal agreement.

But it was not what his spinners said during those negotiations. Five years ago, as the talks grew more serious in the weeks before Christmas,