The Tories and Mail go loopy over Erasmus+

Are the Tories alright? We ask after two of their MPs joined forces with the Daily Mail in an attack on Britain rejoining the EU’s Erasmus+ scheme that was so absolutely batshit mental it’s tempting to call for some sort of intervention.

Under the headline “Tories warn British children ‘will be brainwashed by Brussels’ because of Labour’s decision to rejoin EU’s student exchange scheme”, the Mail quoted a couple of little-known Conservatives raging about the rejoining the scheme – which will allow British students to spend time in an EU country and vice versa – in terms that suggested it was North Korea, not Europe, Keir Starmer is intent on building bridges with.

Warning ominously that “British children as young as four will be ‘brainwashed by Brussels’ because of Labour’s decision” to join the successful programme, the Mail mocked the idea it would “unlock opportunities for young people on the continent”, insisting it would mean that “British schools must now teach children about the EU, display the EU flag and praise the European project as part of the scheme”.

“They claimed children will be subject to ‘mind control’ in lessons, where they will learn about the ‘benefits of the Single Market’ and European integration,” the Mail said of the Conservative MPs.

One of these was shadow education minister Saqib Bhatti, who said: “This is a thinly veiled attempt to brainwash children, with EU propaganda beamed right into their schools, colleges and universities.

“We all know Starmer wants to unpick Brexit, but now he is resorting to mind control to do it.”

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Who is Saqib Bhatti? He is the man who founded Muslims for Britain to campaign for Brexit in 2016, arguing that EU policy prevented immigration from South Asia and that leaving would make it easier for people from the sub-continent to come – a hugely popular argument in today’s Tory Party! He also endorsed Liz Truss for the Conservative leadership in 2022, saying she “understands that for businesses to thrive, the government needs to get out of the way”.

The paper also quoted another Conservative MP, Mike Wood, who said: “On Labour’s watch, Erasmus is set to be a Trojan horse for the EU propaganda machine. Starmer has signed Britain up to a scheme that forces the promotion of the EU all while British tax-payers foot a bill running into the billions.”

And how will the EU be brainwashing children under this scheme? Well – rather than, as claimed, forcing schools to fly the flag – “beneficiaries of European Union (EU) funding are obliged to display the EU flag and specify that financial support has been received for related EU programmes in all their communication and promotional materials,” say the rules.

That is to say, any letters, emails or documents relating to the scheme must carry the logo. “The preferred wording is as follows: ‘Co-funded by’ or ‘With the support of’, followed by the wording ‘the European Union Erasmus+’ programme next to the EU flag,” say the regulations on the agency’s website.

So, rather than children being subject to “mind control” in lessons, some documents will have to carry a small blue-and-yellow flag. Quite some brainwashing!

Still, a good scoop for the paper’s political reporter, Gabriel Millard-Clothier, and no doubt completely unrelated to him being, until last year, the Conservative Party’s deputy head of media, from which he was recruited by the Mail despite having no journalism experience whatsoever. Perhaps all his articles should carry a little logo denoting that!