The Labour leader of North Herts Council has backed calls for the government to open negotiations with the European Union (EU) on a scheme to make it easier for young people to travel, study and work on the continent.

Cllr David Chalmers, chair of the national Liberal Democrat Federal International Relations Committee, put forward a motion calling on the council to support the UK's involvement in a Youth Mobility Scheme. The motion was passed at a meeting on Thursday (January 28) with support from Labour councillors.

Cllr Chalmers, chair of the national Liberal Democrat Federal International Relations Committee, wants to see a UK-EU Youth Mobility Scheme that would allow people aged 18-35 to move and work freely between countries for up to two years.

Similar schemes already exist between the UK and countries including Australia, Canada and South Korea.

Cllr Chalmers said the proposal was not about restoring "freedom of movement" but about giving young people opportunities.

He said: "I don't think anyone back in 2016 … thought that young people would now be able to work and live in Japan for up to two years, but not be able to hop across the Channel to do the same in France or Germany."

Cllr Chalmers said that aged 18, he had "taken a year off" and lived in Berlin, including working for six months in an old people's home.

"What for me has been so easy just isn't available for our young people today. We have taken this away from our young people."

Leader of the council, Cllr Daniel Allen, voted for the motion and told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "I campaigned hard against Brexit, and I am happy to write a letter in support of the youth mobility scheme and how it would be beneficial to the residents of North Hertfordshire."

He will now write to Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to call for negotiations on setting up a scheme. 

European diplomats have asked the UK to consider joining such a scheme, but when Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was questioned on the possibility last year, he said: "I've been clear from the get-go that freedom of movement is a red line for us. There are no plans in relation to free movement on any level."

Polling last year by YouGov found almost 70 per cent of Brits would support joining a youth mobility scheme with the EU, including 55 per cent of people who voted Leave in 2016. 

A spokesperson for North Herts Liberal Democrats said Thursday's vote marked the first time a council has backed a youth mobility scheme with the EU. 

The motion passed with 28 councillors voting in favour and two voting against. 

Liberal Democrat Cllr Tom Tyson said he would be attending the 70th birthday of a friend in Germany later this year, who he had met as a student on the continent in 1979.

Cllr Tyson, who worked as a foreign language teacher, said: "Travel broadens the mind, it's true, it makes us better people, more tolerant, more reasoned.

"We can be critical but based on experience and understanding, not prejudice. We can see things in a broader context, we know there is more that unites us with our neighbours than separates us from them."

Most Labour councillors backed the proposals. Cllr Emma Rowe said it was about "Giving young people the chance to explore, learn and grow". While Cllr Amy Allen said she "did not march through the streets of London, waving a placard, frustrated about how much had been stolen from so many in the future, to then sit on my hands when something like this arises".

However, Conservative group leader Cllr Ralph Muncer questioned the point of a motion on foreign policy coming before the council.

He said: "I didn't realise North Herts District Council would be having responsibility for foreign affairs added to its portfolio.

"Decisions such as this should be taken in London, they should be taken in Brussels. They should not be taken here in Letchworth."

Cllr Muncer – who voted against the motion – said a benefit of Brexit had been the Turing Scheme, which provides funding for students to study abroad in countries across the world.

He said: "If we're talking about broadening one's horizons, surely we want to have not just a European perspective, but a global … perspective?"