Is Britain UK backsliding into the EU? The UK will rejoin the Erasmus+ programme to allow UK students to study in the EU from 2027 for the first time since Brexit. At face value, this is no bad thing. While there is a multi-million-pound cost, it can broaden young folks’ horizons, and – in the grand scheme of things – is no skin of Britain’s nose. But could the money devoted to Erasmus been used instead to develop an equivalent programme for the Commonwealth Realms like Australia, Canada and New Zealand?

Aside from strengthening ties with our sibling countries – with whom we share a king – we already have youth mobility schemes with those countries, with calls to go further still. Plus, if someone is from Australia, Canada or New Zealand, they can already extend their visa by one year after the 2-year period ends.

Moreover, could the cash for Erasmus+ have been better spent maximising the benefits of Brexit? For example, Brexit created an opportunity to invest heavily in sectors like AI and biotechnology, neither of which has happened.

The UK could also take advantage of Brexit to become a global centre for digital industries – investing in 5G, AI, fintech, and blockchain.

While the UK lost passporting rights to the EU financial services market, London could now be developing more diverse financial services offerings like fintech and crypto.

With Brexit, the UK is also no longer part of the EU’s GDPR, creating opportunities for our own data protection regime. By introducing a data privacy framework which encourages innovation Britain could position itself as a global hub for data-driven industries like AI, big data, and cloud computing.

This, plus regulatory streamlining, cutting better trade deals and strengthening our Commonwealth links, should be front and centre of UK policy. Not backsliding to Brussels. But then we know only one party will ever fix this problem, don’t we?