As Keir Starmer entered the room with Ursula von der Leyen for his first meeting with the European Commission as prime minister on Wednesday, we had a clear picture of what she wanted. This is because the commission is quite good at communicating its wishes and showing its reasoning – or as you could call it, “being normal”.
At the top of her agenda is a youth mobility scheme, a reciprocal arrangement between nations whereby citizens, usually aged 18-30, can work for a period in another country. One EU official said the commission “mainly wants to see if Starmer will engage”. Others have described the issue as “low-hanging fruit” – so uncontroversially mutually beneficial that, as consequential as it might be for individuals, at a societal level it’s almost gestural, like taking flowers when you go to someone’s house. You don’t have to, but why wouldn’t you?
We also know Starmer’s position, or certainly what it was last week, when he told reporters that he had “no plans” for a youth mobility scheme. However, there is no earthly way to guess his reasoning.
The Whitehall rumour is that he’s anxious to avoid looking like a fan of free movement, perhaps because that’s exactly what he was when fighting to become Labour leader. At the risk of overworking a metaphor, he’s fighting yesterday’s fire, which he set himself, in his own pants. Realistically, he is probably still in favour of free movement, for all the reasons he gave in 2020: it was beneficial to the economy, many vital sectors relied on it, not everyone felt “left behind” by it, and many people conversely felt connected, empowered and liberated. His posture of opposition fools........