Abject SNP abandoning Erasmus replacement

Liam McArthur MSP has today slammed the Scottish Government for their failure to deliver a replacement for the Erasmus student exchange scheme.

A £65 million scheme in Wales, kickstarted by Liberal Democrats, has already lined up over 5,000 international exchange opportunities from this September with funding for the next 4 years.

In April 2022, minister Jamie Hepburn confirmed that there was no timetable in place for even a consultation to take place on a proposed Scottish scheme. Now almost a year on, a parliamentary question from Mr McArthur has revealed that the Scottish Government has made no further progress.

Mr McArthur said:  

“So it’s not just leadership contests that the SNP can turn into a farce.

“In Wales, thousands of young people are now able to take part in exchanges that allow them to study in countries across Europe. Sadly, their counterparts in Scotland are being denied those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for learning and building relationships.

“If the SNP were even slightly concerned about maintaining ties with Europe this would be a perfect way to show it. Instead, they are no further forward than they were a year ago.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats have been clear that as passionate pro-Europeans, we want to see our economic, social and educational ties to Europe rebuilt. At the moment, the SNP are doing even worse than the Brexiteers when it comes to enabling study abroad.