Vote raises fears for UK access to Erasmus+ post-Brexit

Former students who benefited from the European Union’s Erasmus+ scheme have voiced dismay following the defeat of a parliamentary bid to force the United Kingdom government to keep it open to UK students after Brexit, writes Andrew Woodcock for the Independent.

Ministers insisted the government is still open to negotiating continued access to the programme, which provides exchange opportunities at universities around Europe, if it was in the UK’s interests post Brexit, which is due to go ahead on 31 January. But college representatives warned that there was now “a definite risk” that British students will lose access after the end of this year, when a “transition period” to Brexit concludes.

An amendment to the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill, tabled by Liberal Democrats, which would have enshrined in law a duty for ministers to try to keep Britain in the programme, was voted down by Conservative and Democratic Unionist Party MPs, including Universities Minister Chris Skidmore, in the House of Commons on 8 January.
Full report on the Independent’s site