The Guardian “expose” of the Internship culture was brilliant. A front page headline and couple of inside pages devoted to an issue we have been banging on about for months and months.
When we started this website we wanted to get a conversation going about the merits and ethics of unpaid work. I think this moved on to a new level at the weekend.
One of the best stories to come out of the coverage concerned our foreign secretary, David Miliband.
Last month, the foreign secretary advertised for an intern who would be based in Westminster for a maximum of four months, with duties including database management, office support and administration and policy research.
His office was questioned about whether his intern should be paid the minimum wage because of the fact that there appeared to be set tasks.
The advert was removed the following day. The reason given: “Too many applications already.”
An email from Miliband’s office stated: “Following your inquiry we have asked for clarification on the position of internships in MPs’ offices. If there is any breach of minimum wage regulations we will act immediately to rectify the situation.”
On his personal website, Miliband talks about the importance of the national minimum wage. He said: “Everyone should earn a fair wage for a fair day’s work, there is no excuse not to pay up.”
We have always assumed the reason why so many interns ply their trade in Westminster without proper regulation is because the MPs have never stopped and thought about the morals of getting young people to work for months without pay. I have never met Mr Miliband, but I assume he is a decent man. Just completely out of touch, living in his Westminster/North London bubble, where rent and job frustrations aren’t even a consideration. Being confronted like this is a wake up call – and maybe the beginning of the bubble bursting.
And fantastically well done to you! It is due to the presence of this site that this issue has been raised and got such a high profile. You’ve done a hige amount in a very short space of time – if the pressure can be maintained then maybe someone will finally do something about this.
Interns Anonymous, I salute you!
Great coverage. And they even devoted a few paragraphs to internships in the journalism industry!!
Oh the irony lucy! I wonder how many interns they have working at the Guardian! As an ex-Observer intern myself… I would guess a fair few!