BRITAIN’S withdrawal from the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme will be “a huge blow,” Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Government’s Universities Minister, has claimed, saying Edinburgh is now looking at possible alternative options.

Mr Lochhead lamented the decision to leave the scheme as part of the country’s departure from the EU at the end of this week despite Boris Johnson announcing it will be replaced by a worldwide alternative named after codebreaker Alan Turing, which the UK Government insists will be better than Erasmus as it will benefit more disadvantaged youngsters.

Erasmus, which the UK joined in 1987, allows students to study and work across Europe and is used by more than 2,000 Scottish students and staff annually.

Nicola Sturgeon has condemned the UK Government’s decision as “cultural vandalism”.

The First Minister’s colleague echoed the criticism, declaring: “The loss of Erasmus is huge blow. This is simply unacceptable and we are looking at alternative options.”

He added: “After years of discussions and meetings, the UK Government has made these decisions irrespective of the views of the devolved administrations.”

Scottish Government figures suggest the value of Erasmus to the economy has been estimated to be nearly £34 million annually since 2014.

While students in Scotland will be prevented from participating, their counterparts in Northern Ireland will still have access to the programme.

Mr Lochhead also criticised the UK Government’s alternative, the Turing programme, adding: “We found out from media reports more details of the UK’s alternative scheme which is a watered down and less well-funded version of Erasmus and it’s not even an exchange programme because there is no support for visits to Scotland.

“I have since spoken to my UK counterpart and expressed our profound disappointment that the UK chose to abandon Erasmus which plays such a key role in opening up opportunities and horizons for so many young Scots.

“Crucially, it is a scheme that brings different countries and nationalities together with massive cultural and educational benefits.”

Mr Lochhead made clear would “resist using the Internal Market Bill to foist an inferior UK scheme on Scotland”.

Earlier, Michael Gove defended the UK Government’s decision after Boris Johnson in January insisted it would not abandon the Erasmus scheme.

Then, the Prime Minister knocked back fears, raised by the SNP’s Douglas Chapman, that the exchange programme was going to be terminated by the UK Government, telling the backbencher he was “talking through the back of his neck”.

Mr Johnson insisted: “There is no threat to the Erasmus scheme and we will continue to participate in it. UK students will continue to be able to enjoy the benefits of exchanges with our European friends and partners, just as they will be able to continue to come to this country.”

Mr Gove explained that the UK Government had wanted to take part in the Erasmus scheme but “only on terms that were fair to the taxpayer”.

The Cabinet Office Minister defended his colleague, saying the suggestion made against him that he wilfully wanted to withdraw the UK from the Erasmus scheme come what may for ideological reasons was wrong, and claimed the terms offered by Brussels were not fair; the cost was too great.

“The hundreds of millions of pounds additionally it would have cost us are better spent on making sure that disadvantaged children from less privileged backgrounds, who were often those who didn’t benefit from schemes like Erasmus, get a better education.”

Asked if students would fare better under the new Turing programme, Mr Gove insisted it would be a “better scheme,” which would benefit students from less privileged backgrounds. He added the other advantage from the new scheme was that it would be “global” rather than just focused on Europe.