Lisa Nandy rejects criticism over Erasmus announcement on Remembrance Sunday

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has rejected criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK over the timing of the announcement that the UK will rejoin the Erasmus student exchange programme. The government linked restarting the scheme to honouring the courage of veterans on Remembrance Sunday. The Conservatives called that disrespectful to veterans. Reform UK accused ministers of politicising Remembrance Sunday.

In a report by Jack Fenwick, the scheme was described as allowing students from British universities to study abroad and vice versa, with some costs covered by the EU. The UK left Erasmus after Brexit but will return from January at a cost of £570 million. The Culture Department said it would give a generation of people the chance to build connections across Europe. BBC One West reported that the scheme would also give apprentices and adult learners exchange opportunities abroad.

Nandy denied that the timing was inappropriate. She said it was right to honour the legacy of that generation with more than "lip service" and with standing at the Cenotaph, important as that was. She said the government should educate a new generation about what that generation fought for and achieved. Reform UK said the Erasmus scheme was "wildly expensive" and benefits European students more than the UK. It said Nandy's use of Remembrance Sunday was in "very, very poor taste".

Andy Burnham wants a closer relationship with the EU. Later this month, he will announce a wider deal on youth movement. The EU is said to want access to the UK for 150,000 young Europeans, and the UK government is thought to be trying to negotiate that number down. Nandy accepted that closer ties would come with trade-offs.

BBC News reported that Europe's former chief Brexit negotiator said the UK could not pick and choose options, but that the door was open to rejoining the EU if it wanted. BBC One West named him as Michel Barnier and reported that he warned against cherry-picking. In a later package by Joe Pike, BBC One West said the new UK-EU deal was expected to include the removal of post-Brexit checks on food and animal exports, the linking of UK and EU carbon emissions trading schemes, and a youth experience programme allowing people to live, work and study on the continent. Reports differed on timing: BBC News said a major UK-EU summit was nine days away, while BBC One West said the new agreements were due to be signed off in 12 days.

BBC One West also quoted a lifelong Eurosceptic saying only a very small part of the economy, such as sellers of oysters or beef, would benefit. He said the UK would go on surrendering its fisheries for a further 10 years and pay an undisclosed sum that would not be insignificant.