Visions of Life Under a Tory Government

Dave B

He's not conscripting anyone, and he DOES have an obligation to get the best deal for the taxpayer he can. The public sector should not be a gravy train.

paracelsus

You don't take an intern position for the money. You do it for the experience, the connections, and the general sense of learning something from the work environment.

It's how the world works. Grow up!

Jeremy

Hang on a second...presumably the "intern" has to eat, have somewhere to sleep, and to pay the costs of travelling to and from work. Are they not entitled to a salary and conditions which at least meet the national minimum requirements?

Or is it a case of: "Only those with private incomes need apply"?

David

Sounds like he's doing what he should. Interns are not and never have been fully paid employees. Far better this than the standard DWP practice of paying interns the pro rata equivalent of an HEO salary (28k)

Dave

Why are you staggered by this?
There are plenty of people who'd jump at the chance to work in Parliament for nowt just for the "networking" opportunites.
Dare says it's true for TV, newspapers & magazines - maybe even The New Statesman?

A Healy

"Only those with private incomes need apply"

That's what it comes down to . The deliberate restriction of access to a job market on grounds of wealth .

The antithesis of a meritocracy .

How very un-Conservative .

Jeremy

Philip Hammond:

"I would regard it as an abuse of taxpayer funding to pay for something that is available for nothing and which other members are obtaining for nothing. I therefore have no intention of changing my present arrrangements."

Would the funding for an intern come out of the total salary and expenses which he is already being paid?

Or would he have to apply for "special funding" solely in order to employ an intern?

Because if the former, then I fail to see in what way he is saving public money by paying nothing to his intern.

Unless, to adapt what I said earlier, it is a case of: "Only those with rich parents or private incomes need apply."

Cato

What utter nonsense. I did several unpaid interships when I was a student--the intern is trading work (not very hard work) for experience and knowledge. If employers were forced to pay for this work, students would never get these opportunities.

Occasional Ostrich

And is Martin quite certain that no such arrangement exists within the ranks of his own favoured party? None? Not one? Not even a little smidgy bit? So all those interns are being paid the minimum wage for doing nowt useful? What, you think it IS useful? Useful to whom, the intern? or the Labour party? or UK PLC as a whole?

Dave

Interns @ The New Statesman! :

www.newstatesman.com/page/jobs

"Placements are unpaid; however interns will be paid our standard rates for any articles published and we do cover travel costs (within London zones 1-3)"

Discriminating against Outer-Londoners! :-)

Shaun

"Why are you staggered by this?
There are plenty of people who'd jump at the chance to work in Parliament for nowt just for the "networking" opportunites.
Dare says it's true for TV, newspapers & magazines - maybe even The New Statesman?"
It's true for Parliament and for most newspapers, the Economist is an exception.

It is very useful in terms of getting experience and meeting people who can later help you in your career. The problem is that you either need to already live in London, or have the money to afford three months accomodation, food and travel in London. I think that there will always be people willing and able to do it without expenses or a wage, but that that rather limits the number of people who can take advantage of internships. The best candidate won't always get the position because they might not be able to afford it. I think that internships don't help social mobility.

I believe that in the US most internships come with living expenses because there's an understanding that not everyone is based in DC or New York and not everyone can afford that.

Shaun

Senor Frizby

Garbage. This is a non-story aimed at more over analysis and scandelising. There are loads of people who would do it for nothing. If you want the experience but can't afford it then get a second job.

The free ticket seems to be the preferred method for anything these days. What has happened to self-sacrifice and hard graft?

We're left with weak minds whining that conditions aren't meeting expectations. Hence the ever declining strength of the fabric of our society.

Costello

Uh, anybody unwilling to do this work on the terms required by the employer is perfectly free not to apply for the job. If i want to take up an internship or any other kind of unpaid work that is my business and is noone elses concern but the employer.

Honestly you leftists are a disgusting lot with your fevered obsession with controlling every aspect of peoples lives.

Costello

"If employers were forced to pay for this work, students would never get these opportunities."

Exactly. However if this reality (or indeed any reality) had any meaning to these socialists we wouldn't have a minimum wage or any of the other myriad, daft and inherently immoral, laws they have forced upon us.

Shaun

"If employers were forced to pay for this work, students would never get these opportunities."

So instead we have opportunities for students based in London with supportive families or who are already wealthy. I'd also add that internships aren't only for students, a number of industries expect graduates to work through a few internships before they get accepted into a paid position. There's nothing socialist about paying people for work, which is why The Economist does it.

Internships are far more common in the US and are generally paid. The goal of an internship in the US is to attract the best possible candidate to do the work and, possibly, to gain a full-time employee at the end of it. The goal in the UK seems to be to get free labour.

Shaun

Richard

Your title is a lie, because it directly implies that this will change under the Conservatives. Since Labour members have done the exact same thing, that is dishonest.

Jonny

I've read that often unpaid internships aren't even legal. Check this out:

eastendlady

we should all - new statesman and spectator, labour opposition and tory/libdem ministers, be concerned about equal opportunity surely. It is increasingly hard, maybe impossible now, to find work in westminster and in the media without experience. Internships give valuable experience and enable young people to make contacts. It puts them first in line when the jobs are handed out. So, is it right, then, that only those who can afford to work for free get this privilege? We already have a front bench and opposition bench stuffed with public school and oxbridge graduate. And we are going backwards. In journalism the chances of someone who went to a non fee-paying school getting a job are now less than they were 20 years ago.The proportion of MPs who went to state schools is now diminishing. Equal access to the professions is an important challenge to the new government and a closer observation of the law on the minimum wage (a recent tribunal ruled it illegal to pay nothing when actual work and regular hours were involved) would be a major first step. Internships should be paid as should all westminster workers. We don't say that an inexperienced cleaner or canteen worker should work for nothing for the experience or the privilege of learning, do we? This requires bold action by a new govt. Hammond should not be encouraging this grossly unfair practice..

eastendlady

just realised martin's blog an old one! still the new govt really should deal with the scourge of internships in parliament..