Coalition hypocrisy? That doesn’t do the facts justice

By Jonny Medland

Writing a first post for LabourList on the subject of being a former unpaid intern for Nick Clegg is a bit daunting. But given today’s announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister about the Liberal Democrats no longer offering unpaid internships I thought the time was right for me to say something about the government’s new recognition of the problems caused by unpaid internships.

I worked for Nick Clegg over the summer of 2007 when he was still Home Affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats. Over the couple of months I was working in Westminster I – along with many other interns – was given a lot of work to do including liaising with constituents, research for speeches in the commons, drafting articles for the media and researching details of government policy. This work was very similar to what paid researchers do and was rewarding. While I’ve been a member of the Labour Party since late 2009 I got a lot out of the internship, along with many others who do unpaid internships every year.

It’s precisely this point that creates so many of the problems around unpaid internships. Given the opportunity that they present you will always be able to find willing students or recent graduates who are willing to work either for free or for the cost of their travel expenses. This is quite evidently unfair as it limits many fantastic opportunities to those who live in or around London and are able to work without being paid. Many interns work, unpaid, for months doing jobs which are essential to the running of Westminster offices. This isn’t ‘volunteering’, or ‘work experience’, it’s simply unpaid labour.

Many of the steps outlined in the government’s Social Mobility Strategy are to be welcomed, but you’ve got to question their true commitment to them. The House of Commons today saw Nick Clegg looking awkward as he confirmed that the Liberal Democrats would no longer offer unpaid internships. This is progress but the auctioning off of internships in the City of London at a Conservative fundraiser earlier this year casts doubts about the true attitude of the coalition to fair access to internships.

Although it would be tempting to write off stories like mine as an example of coalition hypocrisy on the issue of unpaid internships, that wouldn’t do the facts justice. Too many Labour MPs still offer expenses-only internships which preclude many young people from working in Westminster. Indeed, our party has been notably silent on the issue of internships today. Ed Miliband made signing Intern Aware’s pledge a key part of his leadership campaign. Yet Intern Aware have exposed the dozens of unpaid interns still working for the Labour Party. At last week’s NEC meeting, youth representative Callum Munro raised the issue of unpaid interns in the Labour Party. Miliband, who promised to end them, merely answered that it was a “good point”. We need to put pressure on our party to live its values.

Making all internships paid wouldn’t solve the problems to do with social mobility that the government has identified. But it’s a bare minimum if we’re serious about having fair access to desirable jobs. The list of former Parliamentary interns who have gone on to be MPs is huge. By freezing out people who ask only to be paid for the work that they do we’re losing a lot of talent and perpetuating Parliament’s image as being only for a privileged minority.