UK willing to spend £450m a year on EU students if it can join Made in Europe scheme

Exclusive: Plan to allow students from bloc pay same fees as Britons contingent on entry to industrial programme, officials say Ministers are prepared to spend as much as £450m a year to give students from the EU discounted university fees, the Guardian has learned, but only if Brussels allows the UK access to its Made in Europe industrial programme.

The UK government has drawn up plans to allow students arriving…