BORIS Johnson has denounced the Scottish Government for “failing” on the economy, education and crime as he declined to apologise for controversially withdrawing the UK from the EU’s Erasmus student exchange scheme.
During PMQs exchanges, the Prime Minister was challenged by the SNP’s Kirsten Oswald – standing in for party leader Ian Blackford who was unable to link up virtually due to “technical issues” – who noted how he had published plans for the replacement for Erasmus, the Turing scheme, “without any consultation or discussion with the devolved governments”.
Ms Oswald told MPs: “The replacement scheme offers lower living support, no travel support and no tuition fee support. Why are this Tory Government taking opportunities away from our young people?”
Thanking her for her “delightfully concise question,” Mr Johnson argued the Turing scheme was better, saying that, unlike Erasmus, which overwhelmingly went to children from better-off homes, the new project was “designed to help kids across the country, of all income groups, get to fantastic universities around the world”.
But Ms Oswald insisted this was not the case as the UK Government would not match EU levels of support for students and claimed people could not trust a word the PM said on the subject.
“The Government have saddled a generation with tuition fee debt and are now closing the door on Erasmus. It is no wonder that students are choosing the SNP and independence for a prosperous future. Prime Minister, will you think again, do the right thing, engage with our EU friends and rejoin Erasmus?” asked the East Renfrewshire MP.
But Mr Johnson argued that students should choose the Turing project because it was “fantastic and reaches out across the whole country”.
Then in a political response, the PM said: “I believe, by the way, that they should reject the SNP - a Scottish nationalist party, Mr Speaker- because it is failing the people of Scotland, failing to deliver on education, failing on crime and failing on the economy.
“I hope very much that the people of Scotland will go for common sense. Instead of endlessly going on about constitutional issues and endlessly campaigning for a referendum, which is the last thing the people of this country need right now, people want a Government who focus on the issues that matter to them, including a fantastic international education scheme like Turing.”
But the SNP attack on the UK Government over Erasmus continued with Alyn Smith, who highlighted the case of Anthony Jones, who, the Stirling MP described as a “ferociously bright student at Stirling University,” who was looking to do a masters degree in Amsterdam but while the pre-Brexit course fees were £2,168, the post-Brexit ones were £14,600.
“The Turing Scheme won’t touch the sides of what is necessary,” declared the Nationalist MP. “Would the Prime Minister like to apologise to Anthony and countless hundreds of thousands students like him for limiting their life horizons against their will?”
Mr Johnson replied: “No, because the Turing Scheme is fairer and it is something that will enable students on lower incomes to have access to great courses around the world and it is a highly beneficial reform to the way we do[things].”
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