Nils Schmid, the foreign affairs spokesman for Chancellor Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, has been speaking to our colleagues on Radio 4’s Today programme.

He says Scholz and Starmer are “more or less on the same page” when it comes to UK-EU relations.

“There is a constant push by the German government to bring the UK closer to Europe and to facilitate cooperation between Great Britain and the European Union in as many fields as possible, ranging from trade to student mobility rights to defence.

“And then, of course, there’s also the idea of not only preparing the ground for a EU-UK agreement, but also to strengthen the bilateral ties between Germany and Great Britain.”

A youth mobility scheme was “a major feature of our wish list”, Schmid adds.

“This is about facilitating access of youth to Great Britain for stays of limited duration, for purposes like educational programmes, youth exchange or student exchange,” he says.