Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of The Gruffalo, on the government’s rejection of a youth mobility scheme with the EU. Plus a letter from Ray Kirtley
I’m appalled that the government as well as the Labour party rejected the EU’s offer for free movement for young people (Sunak rejects offer of youth mobility scheme between EU and UK, 19 April). As a father of a teenage child with continental roots, it is sad for me to see that young children of British friends are denied the chance to work and study in continental Europe. The doors remain shut. Not the “remaining” we had in mind.
Without free movement in the then European Economic Community in 1982, I would not have come to England to study at an art school, and consequently there wouldn’t have been my illustrations for Julia Donaldson’s stories, which seem to be loved by millions of British children and parents. The Gruffalo is a good example of a successful, cross-European joint venture.
