‘Hypocrite’ Clegg in row over jobs

The Sheffield Hallam MP said that “birth has become destiny” for many youngsters as he set out the Government’s policy, which called on companies to allocate internships through open competition rather than being allocated to the well-connected. The Government will be tracking progress against its social mobility goals with the publication of a set of indicators, and Ministers are setting up a Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, to be chaired at first by former Labour Minister Alan Milburn.

The new commission will be independent and staffed by “a small staff of experts”, producing annual progress reports to Parliament.

Mr Clegg insisted it was time to break down barriers preventing poorer children reaching their potential. “It just is not right that for too many young people, birth has become destiny, that the circumstances of someone’s birth should shape, narrow and limit opportunities at school, at college, at university, the labour market – and more than that, on some evidence, limit the length of time you will live,” he said.

However Mr Clegg was forced to defend himself and his party amid claims the Liberal Democrats were among the “worst offenders” for unpaid internships.

It also emerged his own intern experience at a Finnish bank was set up through a friend of his financier father, Nicholas, who was chairman of United Trust Bank.

Labour MP John Mann said: “It is total hypocrisy and really desperate for him to attack internships now.

“His policies are holding down social mobility in this country but he enjoyed all the advantages of family connections himself.”

Ben Lyons, director at Campaign group Intern Aware, said: “It is encouraging that politicians have finally woken up to the scandal of Britain’s unpaid intern culture.

“But as part of any solution, Nick Clegg must address the widespread use of unpaid interns in his own party.”

Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems would be putting their own internship system “on a much more transparent footing” for youngsters, including making applications “name and school blind”.

Civil service internships are also to be advertised on a central website from 2012, ending informal placements within Whitehall.

The Government also wants financial support for interns, covering out-of-pocket expenses or even offering a wage, amid concerns that many youngsters cannot afford to undertake unpaid positions, particularly in London.

The social mobility strategy highlights several critical moments in terms of people making the best of their lives.

Indicators to be studied and compared across social groups include birth weights, school readiness at age five, educational achievement and entry to the most selective third of universities and economic activity between 18 and 24.

They will be incorporated into the business plans of Whitehall departments, forcing them to consider the impact of policies on social mobility.

Nick Pearce, director of centre-left think-tank the IPPR, said the report card indicators were “mostly a sub-set of those used in the Labour years”.

“They are a source of cheap labour for employers, who can rely on better-off families supporting their children to get a vital first step on the jobs ladder,” he said.

“Interns should be paid a proper wage and openly recruited on merit.”