The UK should agree with the EU on a youth mobility scheme, London’s Labor mayor Sadiq Khan said, in a sharp break with his party’s frosty response to an EU Commission proposal for a deal last week.
Khan, who is seeking a third term next week, rejected comments from both Labor and government officials that equated youth mobility with freedom of movement. Sir Keir Starmer’s Labor party has ruled out a return to free movement as one of its Brexit red lines.
In an interview with the Financial Times in a cafe in south London before the vote on May 2, Khan said: “People should understand the difference between a youth mobility scheme and the free movement of people when you are in the single market, and I’m concerned about that . “People confuse the two.”
He added: “I hope the next Labor government understands the difference,” and described a YMS as “incredibly important” for London. Khan said seven out of 10 companies in the capital were facing a skills shortage.
Youth mobility programs typically involve issuing visas to people aged 18 to 35 to live and work in a country for two or three years. The EU last week proposed bold conditions including free access to the NHS and cutting university fees for EU citizens to the level paid by domestic students.
Labor said it had “no plans” for a YMS between the UK and the EU, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also rejected the proposal. Khan said: “We run the risk of cutting off our noses to spite our face.”
According to a YouGov poll published last week, Khan is well ahead of his Tory rival Susan Hall in the opinion polls, leading her by 19 points. The Conservatives are bracing for devastating results in local and mayoral polls on May 2, which could trigger a Tory attempt to oust Sunak. But in London, Labor officials insist they expect it to be a close contest.
Khan pointed to changes to voting rules in the upcoming mayoral election, including the voter ID requirement, which he said could deter up to 15 percent of Londoners from taking part.
Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, described Hall, who has sparked controversy with past social media posts, as “problematic” and believes Khan would have faced a tougher challenge against a more competitive Tory candidate.
While Bale expects Khan to win, he added that the mayor’s popularity was likely to be affected by some “fatigue in office” as well as his record on housing, transport and the Metropolitan Police’s performance.
Some Londoners also complain about Khan’s extension of the ultra-low emissions zone to the outskirts of London, which is said to have helped the Tories retain Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge in a by-election last July. Hall has vowed to reverse the expansion and spread of 20mph zones across the capital.
Khan is defiant and insists slower speed limits save lives, but admitted he is not personally affected. Asked if he drives in London, he said: “No, not really.” Data collected between 2020 and 2022 suggests the number of collisions in 20mph zones fell by 25 percent.
The mayor’s position on closer EU relations is less controversial in London than in other parts of the country. In the 2016 EU referendum, the city voted strongly for the UK to remain in the EU alliance: 60 percent of the capital’s residents voted to remain and 40 percent to leave, while across the UK there was a split of 48 :52 prevailed.
A YMS program could strengthen the city’s workforce in hospitality, health care and human services, Khan said. When asked about his own party’s cool reaction to the idea, Khan deflected criticism of Starmer. Instead, he said he was pleased that his party leader generally supported “closer alignment rather than divergence” with the EU.
If the next government rejects an EU-wide YMS, Khan has promised to push ahead with a new six-month student exchange program instead.
When asked about Hall, Khan quipped “Who?” and mocked her relatively low profile, before going back on script and branding her a “terrifying, far-right, divisive candidate.”
The Conservative campaign angrily rejected his characterization of Hall and accused Khan of resorting to “personal attacks” to tarnish his record as mayor.
Meanwhile, Labor’s evolving position on Gaza has caused contention among some left-leaning and some Muslim voters, who have pushed Starmer to take a more critical stance on Israel.
Khan went even further than his party leader and called for an end to British export licenses for arms to Israel. Asked if he thought he would lose many votes on the issue, he said: “We’ll have to wait and see.”
Amid controversy over regular pro-Palestine protests in the capital, Khan said it “breaks my heart” that Jewish places of worship and communities need additional protection.
He defended “peaceful, lawful and safe” demonstrations and said he was proud of the way police generally handled them. Khan added that he had a “good, frank and constructive meeting” with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley about community relations after an officer at last weekend’s protest drew criticism for calling a police officer man had warned that he was “openly Jewish.”
The mayor also tried to defend his crimes. The Conservatives have pointed out that the total number of recorded crimes rose by 20 per cent between 2015 and 2023, with sexual offences, knife crime and robberies increasing by around 50 per cent. Khan was first elected in 2016.
The Mayor of London sets the strategic direction of policing in London through a Police and Crime Plan and has several other devolved powers, such as the accountability of the Met Commissioner.
Khan emphasized that homicides, weapons offenses and burglaries have decreased, but admitted crime is still too high. He blamed the conservative central government for the austerity measures, pointing to his pledge to hire 1,300 more police officers, constables and special constables, as well as his promise to increase investment in youth clubs.
He argued it would be a “moment of maximum opportunity” for the capital if he were re-elected mayor and Starmer moved into Downing Street in a general election expected this year.