A nudge towards genuine social mobility

I have always thought “nudge” theory was an absurd excuse for a political ideology: just another way of arguing against state intervention. But Nick Clegg has almost forced me to eat my words with his comments about free internships. The Deputy Prime Minister has probably done more in one speech to improve the conditions of young, unpaid interns than any central government diktat. It is, after all, already illegal not to pay the minimum wage.
 
This furore has sent a chill through the political and media classes which are both awash with privileged and/or exploited young people who can afford to work for nothing. Arbiters of public morality such as newspapers, charities, think tanks and political parties have been happy to build free labour into their business models.

Now the HMRC is set to look