Labour is ready to raise its youth visa cap to 80,000 young Europeans a year to unlock stalled 'Brexit reset' talks

The EU has offered an "emergency brake" mechanism that would let Britain temporarily pause the youth mobility scheme if numbers surge, a significant concession designed to unblock stalled talks ahead of the planned UK-EU summit. Britain's negotiators are proposing a "balancing mechanism" allowing periodic reviews of any cap, with the 80,000 figure representing a jump from the 50,000 previously floated by UK officials. The summit, provisionally targeted for 13 July, is now at risk after several EU member states threatened to block the visa plan over fears it would damage their own labour markets.

EU students paying domestic tuition fees of £9,790, rather than international rates, is also being demanded by European negotiators as a condition of any deal.

A senior German diplomat said conceding on university fees would be the "easiest way" through the current impasse, putting further pressure on Burnham's government.

Certain EU member states are pushing for the cap to be raised as high as 500,000 or abolished altogether, making the 80,000 offer a hard test of whether a compromise is even possible.