Ian Murray bids to add Erasmus and Financial Services amendment to Brexit deal

The Edinburgh South MP has also lodged an amendment that would require the UK Government to publish proposals to allow the financial services sector full access to EU markets before the end of February.

If the amendment is selected, it will then be voted on by MPs.

Mr Murray said: “We face a binary choice in the Commons vote, and while SNP MPs are endorsing no-deal, Labour sees this deal as the floor, not the ceiling, so will waste no time trying to build on it.

“It is devastating that the Tories are prepared to take us out of the Erasmus programme and this amendment would allow the Scottish and Welsh governments to have the power to enter into an agreement to maintain access.

“As an MP representing Edinburgh, I am determined to support the financial services industry, which so many jobs rely upon, and a further amendment in my name would require proposals to provide full access to EU markets before the end of February.

“Labour has worked tirelessly to prevent a no-deal Brexit and we’ll continue to passionately fight for our hard-won rights and standards.

“In government, we will build on this deal and – unlike the SNP – we will always act in the national interest.”

The Scottish Government is now looking at potential ways to access the European Union’s Erasmus+ scheme following the UK Government’s decision to ditch the popular exchange programme as part of its Brexit trade deal.

Scottish students will be unable to access the scheme from January 1 as the UK Government rushes to set up its own replacement ‘Turing scheme’, announced by Boris Johnson on Christmas Eve.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has described the decision to ditch the popular scheme as “cultural vandalism”.

Northern Irish students will be able to access Erasmus following a funding pledge by the Irish Government.

Academics have suggested that it would be “doubtful” Scotland could access the scheme without the UK Government’s approval, something that is unlikely to be granted due to the proposed Turing scheme.

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