Nandy ‘horrified’ by Tory attack over Erasmus announcement on Remembrance Sunday
Lisa Nandy rejected claims she had politicised Remembrance Sunday after a government release announcing Britain’s return to Erasmus+ said that “as we mark Remembrance Sunday, Erasmus+ will give a new generation the chance to build connections across Europe”. Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative chairman, called it “tone deaf and frankly shameful”: “Our veterans did not fight for a student exchange scheme.” The culture secretary said she was “quite horrified” that he had “chosen to do that” on the day.
Britain rejoins the EU’s student-exchange programme in January, six years after leaving, paying £570m with a 30% discount that ministers say saves roughly £240m; applications open later this month, 18-year-olds get free rail passes, and more than 100,000 people are expected to benefit, with over £30m earmarked for young people in the North East, East Midlands and Yorkshire. Ms Nandy’s line in the release honoured those who served “by building the best opportunities for the next generation through closeness and collaboration with our allies”. Mr Hollinrake demanded she “withdraw this release and apologise”, saying “it is not a day for a Labour minister to try to make an EU membership pitch”; Nigel Farage called the timing “very, very poor taste” and the scheme “wildly expensive”. Ms Nandy invoked Churchill “extending the hand of friendship across Europe” and said: “There was a time where that wouldn’t have even raised an eyebrow as somehow political, it was just common sense — and it is common sense.” The spat is a trailer for the UK–EU summit in Brussels on 20 November. Watch whether the Conservatives make Erasmus a line of attack there.