An EU youth mobility scheme is a needed concession to repair the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the bloc, writes James Reed in today’s Notebook

The UK must make concessions post-Brexit

Since Brexit, the profile of immigration into the UK has changed dramatically. The younger Europeans who used to work in sectors such as hospitality, retail, healthcare and construction are no longer able to come here using the right to free movement across the EU (sadly, this has meant our young people also losing the right to work wherever they like on the continent).

Instead, there has been a surge in non-EU immigration, driven by work, family and student visas. Net migration reached a record high in the year ending June 2024, at 728,000, propelled by this increase in non-EU citizens coming to the UK.

I’m absolutely sure this is not what many Brexit voters thought they were voting for, or what anyone else wanted to see, so I’m glad to see the government exploring the issue – even if very tentatively. With Trump’s tariffs causing global disruption, we need to examine the state of our trading relationship with the EU, which remains,........

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