The Newshound

Burnham is prepared to spend up to £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 — being prepared for the UK-EU reset summit on 20 November — would slash EU student fees to the same £9,000-a-year level British students pay, with universities compensated for the shortfall. Burnham's government wants access to the EU's 'Made in Europe' industrial programme in return, fearing British carmakers and manufacturers could be locked out of European public contracts and subsidies. The move lands as British graduates are already furious about their own loan repayments, and splits have opened inside Burnham's own Cabinet over how far to go in reversing Brexit.

The Russell Group warns the true cost could top £500m — already higher than the government's own £450m indicative figure.

Former chancellor Rachel Reeves backed Burnham's EU push, saying Brexit left Britain 'poorer, weaker and less secure', days after her successor John Healey struck a more Eurosceptic line.

Burnham has not ruled out a future referendum on EU membership, fuelling fears the reset summit is the first step back toward full membership.

MoreiNewsBurnham’s latest Brexit plan threatens one of Britain’s great success storiesThe 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 studentsPOLITIS - To the pointUK Considers Lower University Fees for EU Students in Post-Brexit Reset - POLITIS - To the pointPhilenewsUK weighs home tuition fees for EU students in reset talks - Philenews
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