General Election 2015: Ed Miliband pledges crackdown on unpaid internship in latest pitch to young voters
A Labour government would clamp down on the 'scandalous' use of unpaid internships for more than four weeks
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ed Miliband promised to ban the practice of unpaid internships for more than four weeks as he made his latest pitch to young voters today.
Describing them as “scandalous,” the Labour leader said unpaid internships kept the poorest young people from the best careers.
Labour would introduce new laws to force companies to pay at least the minimum wage to anyone staying on after four weeks of unpaid work experience.
The move would not reduce the overall number of internships, a poll released today showed, suggesting the policy would mean no change in the overall opportunities for young people.
It is the latest in a string of policies aimed at engaging and winning over the youth voter, along with a plan to give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote and cutting tuition fees to £6,000.
But the party has suffered its own embarrassments over the use of unpaid internships. In 2011 when Lyn Brown, Labour MP for West Ham at the time, was accused of hypocrisy after advertising for an unpaid worker in her office despite campaigning for a "living wage for all".
Campaign group Intern Aware welcomed the move and said it would significantly increase the pool of talent that businesses could draw upon.
Ben Lyons, Co-Founder of Intern Aware, said: “This pledge would make a real difference to thousands of young people entering the job market. The current chasm between twenty-somethings who can afford to work for months on end for free and those who can't is bad for social mobility, bad for business and bad for Britain.
"Businesses are crying out for clarity on internships and the four week limit offers that - as well as vastly increasing the pool of talent they can draw on. We hope this pledge is the start of a change in the political weather around getting young people into work."
YouGov polling showed 62 per cent of businesses said it would make no difference to the number of interns they recruit, 10 per cent said it would make them more likely to hire interns and 10 per cent said it would make them less likely to hire interns.
Major businesses, including KPMG, PwC, Ernst & Young, AXA UK, CH2M Hill and Pimlico Plumbers, support plans for a four week limit to unpaid internships.
The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as is possible.
Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed:
All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com. Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report)
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments