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Burnham is prepared to spend £450m a year of taxpayers' money on cut-price tuition fees for EU students

Britain would bear the £450m annual cost of the fee-equalisation plan itself, officials say, with no contribution expected from the EU.
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.
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 offer would see EU students pay the same fees as British undergraduates, with UK universities compensated for the shortfall, as part of a deal at the UK-EU summit in Brussels on 20 November. The concession is designed to win British manufacturers access to the bloc's 'Made in Europe' industrial programme, which shields European firms from cheap Chinese competition. The Russell Group warns the policy could cost the university sector more than £500m.

The move splits Burnham's own cabinet, with Chancellor John Healey taking a more Eurosceptic line just days before ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves praised the PM's EU reset.

Up to 80,000 EU young people a year could also come to Britain under a youth mobility scheme being negotiated alongside the fees offer.

British graduates already furious over their own loan repayments are expected to react with fury to taxpayers underwriting cheaper fees for EU students.

MoreThe IndependentBurnham to offer cheap fees to EU students in return for access to post-Brexit schemeDaily MailBurnham to blow £450m a year on tuition fees for EU studentsThe TelegraphBurnham considers £450m plan to lower fees for EU studentsEU TodayBritain Offers EU Students Cheaper University Fees in Bid to Secure Access to ‘Made in Europe’ Industrial Scheme
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