Erasmus dropped for being ‘too European’
The UK government shut down the chance of continuing the Erasmus programme because it was “too European”, a Scottish minister has claimed.
The education exchange programme was one of the casualties of the Brexit process, but Scotland and Wales are continuing to push for access to it. The UK governmenthasannounced a replacement scheme, named after famed mathematician Alan Turing.
Speakingtowestminster's Scottish affairs committee, Scotland'sfurtherandhigher education minister Richardlochheadsaid:"theuk government's official line is thatit'snotvalueformoney.
"The UK Treasury were carrying out value for moneyexerciseswhichwefound very, very difficult to influence or even find out about in the last few years.
"(The Treasury) clearly came to the conclusion that maintaining participation in Erasmus was not value for money despite the fact that we think value can't just be counted in pounds in terms of Erasmus, it's about cultural experience, it's about ties with Europe, it's about the educational experience - particularly for people from deprived backgrounds who benefited from it."
Mr Lochhead claims the UK government position was to continue with Erasmus participation "up until the last moment".
Whenaskedwhyhethinks the scheme is being discontinued in the UK, Mr Lochhead said: "I am suspicious thattheukgovernmentfelt that the Erasmus scheme was symbolic of close ties with Europe.
"Theyunfortunatelycommitted this vandalism by removing us from Erasmus togoforthealternativeglobalschemebecauseitwastoo European.”