'When Will Yvette Cooper Resign?': Trevor Phillips Skewers Minister Over Cabinet Splits On EU Deal

Nick Thomas-Symonds and Trevor Phillips.Trevor Phillips skewered a senior Labour minister over apparent cabinet splits over the government’s deal with the European Union.Keir Starmer is set to sign up to a youth mobility scheme with the bloc as he tries to improve relations between the UK and Brussels.That would allow British and EU citizens aged between 18 and 30 to move more freely, as they did before Brexit.However, home secretary Yvette Cooper has previously spoken of her opposition to such an arrangement as she tries to cut immigration numbers.On Sky News this morning, presenter Phillips played an interview he did with Cooper in February to Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister leading the government’s EU negotiations.In it, Cooper said: “We’ve been clear that we need net migration to come down. Under the Conservatives net migration quadrupled in the space of four years. That was the wrong thing for the UK, so we’re clear that net migration needs to come down, so [a youth mobility scheme] is not an approach that we’re looking for.”Asked by Phillips if that meant there would be no youth mobility deal with the EU, Cooper said: “That’s not the right starting point for us at all because what we need to do is bring net migration down.”Phillips the asked Thomas-Symonds: “So if you get get a youth mobility scheme in this agreement, when is Yvette Cooper going to resign?”The minister replied: “Yvette Cooper is doing an absolutely fantastic job.”But the presenter hit back: “Yeah but you’re not doing the job that she wants you to do. She just said this is not an approach we want.”Thomas-Symonds said: “What Yvette Cooper is saying there, and is absolutely the policy of the government, is that we’re going to reduce the level of net migration, and anything that is agreed on youth mobility ... would be consistent with the objective to bring the level of net migration down.”Phillips replied: “Yvette Cooper is extremely skilled at doing these interviews and that was as clear a statement as I’ve ever heard from her on anything, which was that the youth mobility scheme is not an approach that we want to take.“The position has obviously changed so what did you get in return for agreeing to the youth mobility scheme that she so clearly did not want?”But Thomas-Symonds said the EU deal would be “an overall balanced package that works for Britain, works for borders, works for jobs and gets people’s bills down”.“The government is 100% behind the objective of getting net migration down,” he said.Starmer is set to unveil his new deal with the EU at a summit in London on Monday.Related...Starmer Faces A Case Of The Monday Blues As EU Deal And Labour Rebellion Loom'Is Donald Trump Taking You For A Ride?' Trevor Phillips Puts Minister In Hot Seat Over US Deal'You Can't Be Neutral!' Trevor Phillips Calls Out Minister For Response To Trump's Ukraine U-Turn

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