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Simone Webb and DIVA: Raised in Parliament

Following on from my earlier post here and here, I am pleased to report that Robert Halfon MP asked a question in the House of Commons about the appalling treatment of Simone Webb. He specifically requested a debate on social mobility vis-à-vis internships. He received a response from Sir George Young, the Leader of the House of Commons.  Below is the report from Hansard:

Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con):Has my hon. Friend seen early-day motion 2037 about the disgraceful decision by Diva magazine to rescind a work placement that they had originally offered to Harlow college student Simone Webb on the grounds that she was not rich enough to afford her bus fare and did not have independent means?

[That this House notes that Simone Webb is a 17 year old Harlow College student hoping to study at Oxford University; further notes that she was offered a one month unpaid internship at DIVA magazine, but was later refused on the grounds that she hoped to be reimbursed just £5 transport expenses a day, and was told that DIVA was ‘uncomfortable’ offering her an internship as she was ‘so young and without an independent budget of [her] own’; believes that barriers of this kind are a major threat to social mobility and that this is an outrageous example of internships being abused; and calls for DIVA magazine to pay reasonable transport expenses where it can, and to drop its discriminatory policy of refusing to employ people who lack ‘an independent budget’.]

May we have an urgent debate on social mobility to ensure that work experience and internships are available to the many, not the few?

Sir George Young: My hon. Friend is right: internships should be available according to not who you know, but what you know. The House has set an example with the internships that have recently been announced. We are committed to social mobility and we encourage businesses to offer internships openly and transparently and to provide financial support to ensure fair access.

For those generally interested in this matter of interns, I do urge you to watch the debate held last month in the Frontline Club and chaired by Martin Bright.  A number of different points of view were put forward.

Do not forget to contact your MP and urge them to sign EDM 2037.