It’s fair to say that for British trans people, 2025 does not promise to be the best of years. The much-hated Conservative government may have gone, but the newly-elected Labour government of Keir Starmer has proven itself to be just as infiltrated by TERFs as its predecessor. As this is being written our community is reeling under a puberty blocker ban for young trans people, and with the deeply-transphobic Wes Streeting as Health Secretary we don’t hold out much hope of things getting better. Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day though, and there’s something on the horizon for Westminster which might for once have a positive impact for trans people. It’s by no means a certainty but there’s enough noise in the air about it to make it worth discussing, so read on to find out more.
Post Brexit, green shoots emerge
Whatever your views on Brexit may be, it’s difficult to reach any other conclusion than that the Conservatives botched what was supposed to be their crowning achievement. Given it was such a big thing for them you might imagine that they would have put a lot of effort into the framework of treaties under which a post-Brexit Britain would exist, but instead we got four years of internal party strife followed by a disastrous hastily cobbled together last minute deal. Relations between the UK and its Continental neighbours took a significant beating, one that it will take many years to fully repair.
Nearly a decade after the referendum then, it’s encouraging to see the first green shoots of diplomacy seeking to repair the cross-Channel relationship. In particular there’s one proposal which has us very interested, and we think you should be too. It’s an idea for a youth mobility scheme, one in which 18 to 30 year olds could live and work in the EU for four years in something of a cultural exchange. For young British trans people wishing to get out it could offer just what they are looking for.
Before any of you get your hopes up though, it’s important to say that at the time of writing this scheme is just a proposal, and not yet something you can take advantage of. Here at Trans Rescue we prefer to deal in facts rather than rumours, so this article comes with a warning that it’s part speculative and part informative. The proposal is real though, and since it comes from the European Commission we think it should be taken seriously. Rishi Sunak’s government turned it down in April 2024, but according to Politico it’s still firmly on the EU agenda even if Keir Starmer isn’t so keen. There are indications that the UK’s line on Europe may become progressively less chilly than that under the previous government though, so we’d say this: Don’t bet the farm on it, but keep an eye out and be ready to move if it becomes a reality.
If a mobility scheme happens, how to plan ahead.
So given the above, how should you plan for a future young person’s mobility scheme if it happens? The answer is simple enough: have a plan. Work out where in Europe you would go under such a scheme, and what you would do once there. Would you bring an existing skill with you, or would you do casual work? How much could you earn there, and how would that match up to the cost of living? And while English is spoken in many places, can you speak the language where you’d like to go? If not, download a language app and start learning.
The final part of any plan should consider this: If this is a four-year scheme, how can you extend that if you consider the UK to be an unwelcoming place to return to at the end of your visa? We can’t gaze into a crystal ball and say how EU countries would handle this, but as always our general advice to anyone looking at a new visa would be this: consider how attractive to the country you are. If the scheme happens and you take advantage of it, treat those four years as preparation time for a succeeding visa application. Integrate, put down roots, establish a career. Make yourself into an attractive future citizen, Our experience is that applying to renew an existing visa in-country is much easier than applying for your first visa from outside, but to successfully do so you still have to be someone they want to hang on to.
This has been a departure from our usual advice; for once we’re telling you to look out for something which may not happen rather than to take advantage of something readily available. But we think there’s a non-zero prospect of a European youth mobility scheme appearing, so it would be wrong of us not to talk about it. The UK remains a country of concern but for now at least it’s not a physically dangerous place for a trans person to live, so you have the luxury of a little time in which to plan for a more open future for Brits with respect to Europe.
Header: Furfur, Public domain.
