Burnham considers a £450m-a-year plan to give EU students the same university fees as Britons ahead of Brussels summit
Britain would bear the £450m annual cost of the fee-equalisation plan itself, officials say, with no contribution expected from the EU.A data graphic showing 73 per cent of under-35s backing EU membership, a figure former Labour leader Neil Kinnock called evidence of "continually growing support" that will only expand.
The plan would make EU students eligible for domestic tuition fees — currently capped at £9,790 a year — with universities compensated for lost income at a cost of up to £450m annually to the taxpayer. But ministers insist they will only grant the concession if Brussels admits the UK to its protectionist Made in Europe industrial programme, which restricts trade with countries outside the bloc. The move comes as Burnham prepares for a UK-EU reset summit in Brussels on 20 November.
Youth visa talks are also at an impasse, with the EU pushing for up to 100,000 under-30s a year and the UK trying to stay below that "psychologically important" threshold.
The EU has offered an "emergency brake" on the youth mobility scheme, but NHS surcharge demands and a proposed 50,000 annual cap remain sticking points.
Speaking out publicly on EU policy for the first time since her departure from the Treasury, former chancellor Rachel Reeves threw her weight behind Burnham's EU ambitions, saying she believed Britain's future was within the bloc.
