Sir Keir Starmer’s “Brexit reset” has been big on warm words and handshakes, but less successful so far in achieving concrete results.

The early months of 2026 will involve frantic negotiations with Brussels to try to turn previous agreements, such as to align food standards, into reality as soon as possible.

So it is a relief for the Prime Minister that 2025 is now ending with at least one real achievement: the UK will rejoin the Erasmus scheme for students and other young people to travel abroad for university or training.

This move is, in one small sense, a reversal of Brexit. After all, the reason Britain was not part of Erasmus was solely because we left the EU in 2020.

But this reversal will be hard for the Conservatives and Reform to caricature as a Brexit betrayal. It gives opportunities to the young people who have suffered most from the sluggish economy in recent years, and has been met with a rapturous response from universities, colleges and........

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