SCOTLAND is currently moving from the third phase of grieving for the loss of our EU status into the fourth and final stage.

Feelings of sadness, anger and despair, so typical of this third phase, seemed to be epitomised in the news this past Christmas weekend that now the UK has struck a deal with Europe, we will no longer be part of Erasmus+, the EU student exchange programme which started back in 1987.

As the full meaning of the inadequate Brexit deal became apparent, including axing Erasmus+ for a new British version of the scheme, students, academics, apprentices and workers from all walks of life mourned the loss.

Not so for Little Britain – internationalism, education and confidence-building, who needs that when you can start your own ironically named “Turing” scheme, a man the British establishment thanked for saving us from the Nazis by chemical castration leading to his suicide. Small-minded, petty, point-scoring, a two-fingers up to the Remainers – this replacement scheme hasn’t a hope in hell of emulating an internationally renowned programme which has evolved so successfully over 33 years.

READ MORE: Erasmus removal shows the de-Europeanisation of young Scots has begun

Earlier this year, a report by Universities UK International highlighted the £243 million yearly boost to our nationwide economy and the benefits from and to the 17,000 British students and young people who used it. This report underlined the opportunities Erasmus offered disadvantaged and disabled students, with students from deprived areas having access to the same experiences as other more advantaged students and gaining invaluable life skills and confidence by studying in another country. As Lord Peter Rickets noted, the Lords report on Erasmus that was published in 2019 concluded that any replacement scheme would not replicate its strong brand, trusted reputation, common rulebook and framework for partnership agreements and its established network for potential partners”.

This is not what Scotland voted for back in 2016, none of it and especially not this exit from opportunity. To further highlight our marginalisation in this Union of unequals, in what will surely align Northern Ireland even closer to the Republic, the Irish government announced that students in the North would still have access to this education programme despite Brexit. Irish higher education minister, Simon Harris, said that their proposal “is a practical expression of solidarity and aims to provide continued access to EU opportunities to young people in Northern Ireland in what could be an uncertain social and economic environment”.

This move has received praise from across Europe. Unfortunately for Scotland, solidarity is in short supply from a UK Government that can’t walk in a straight line when it comes to respecting devolved democracy. When I questioned Boris Johnson in the Commons in December last year on whether or not Brexit meant leaving Erasmus, he accused me of talking out the back of my neck. It would seem that it was he who was talking out the back of somewhere far less salubrious.

But hope is on the horizon as we move into the fourth and final stage of grief on Brexit. This is the reorganisation and recovery phase when you get your act together and your energy aligned for change and renewal. Now the Scottish Government have announced that they will investigate a similar alignment to the Northern Irish/Republic axis of aspiration for Scotland. It’s certainly a great pity we don’t have a helpful and enthusiastic government to our south in the same way Northern Ireland can rely.

READ MORE: Paul James Cardwell: How likely is it Westminster will allow Scotland back into the Erasmus scheme?

Education of course is devolved in Scotland. However, as professor of law at Strathclyde University, Paul James Cardwell, pointed out, a legal, bilateral agreement is needed for non-EU countries to be part of Erasmus, and countries with mere devolved powers lack the competence to enter international agreements. The way Scotland has been treated throughout Brexit by the UK Government does not inspire confidence that Johnson and co would be willing to let the Scots stay part of any scheme which could be positive for us when it comes to confidence-building and opportunity.

Scotland understands that to be truly global is to be open to partnerships and the exchange of ideas, the very antithesis of Brexit and leaving Erasmus+. We have deep connections to the scheme through Madame Ecosse herself, Winnie Ewing, who was instrumental in the establishment of the programme back in the 1980s when she was an MEP.

Winnie was not for sitting on “the sidelines, mutely accepting what is decided elsewhere”. If she was here, she would be encouraging us to “raise our voices and (make) our own choices”. She would ask, how many times Scotland can we hear the word “no” from the UK?

This is the key question for Scots as we approach the Holyrood election in May. Now is the time to mobilise, to reorganise, to plot our recovery and regrowth, to set in motion a far better future for all our young people in particular.

An independent future in a union of equals with Europe. Now there’s a New Year’s resolution.