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Lord Grocott (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 18 December 2025

Debate

UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations

Contribution

My Lords, on Erasmus, I remind my noble friend that, as I am sure she knows, we are talking about very large sums of money. It was £570 million in the first year alone, and that is with a terrific 30% discount. When large sums of money are involved, I am interested in who the beneficiaries are going to be. I am encouraged by the part of the Statement in which the Commons Minister said, “there will be a review of the UK’s participation in the programme 10 months after our association”. My guess is—and it will of course be tested over time—that there will be rather more students coming from Russell group universities than from FE colleges in the Midlands and the north. To a degree, that is how it must be tested, because the evidence is pretty strong that such schemes can easily become a case of “to them that have shall more be given”, and communities such as my noble friend’s former constituency and mine do not get their fair share.

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