Civil service internships bold act of equity

This is an edited version of an article that appeared in The Yorkshire Post on 30 September 2025 in which Matt Bromley argues that the government’s plan to reserve civil service internships for working class people is an essential corrective…

The government’s plan to reserve internships exclusively for students from working-class backgrounds is not some narrow form of special pleading; it’s a bold act of equity, a conscious attempt to rebalance decades of privilege. For too long, public institutions have been shaped not by merit but by family networks and fee-paying schooling. 

Although only 7 per cent of the population attend private schools, almost a quarter of MPs were privately educated – that’s three times their share of the population. The same skew persists at the top of the judiciary and the civil service. 

Ring-fencing 200 civil service internships for working-class undergraduates is not a gimmick, therefore, but a corrective. Equity recognises that privilege compounds over time. The Social Mobility Foundation reports that around 40 per cent of graduates on unpaid or low-paid internships rely on the “bank of mum and dad.” That reliance helps explain why so few working-class candidates succeed in the Fast Stream, the civil service’s main graduate entry route. When opportunity depends on family wealth, not talent, society loses out.

More than fairness is at stake here. Representation matters. Policies made without the voices of those who know council estates, foodbanks, shift work, or the cost of a bus fare will always feel detached. A policymaker who understands the lived reality of the majority brings empathy to decisions about welfare, housing, education, or health. Empathy is not a soft skill in politics; it is essential for trust. And trust in institutions is fragile right now – and getting more brittle by the day.

Working-class culture is not a deficit but an asset – rich in resilience, authenticity, and solidarity. Yet systemic barriers have long devalued it. Indeed, as I argued in my book, The Working Classroom, the aim of equity is to celebrate and embrace working-class roots, while simultaneously ensuring those roots don’t take stranglehold of life chances. That’s why schemes like this are needed: not to patronise, but to make sure those assets are not wasted.

Critics argue that assessing background by parental occupation at age 14 – as the government plans to do – is crude. It is imperfect, yes. But the Social Mobility Commission recognises it as a reliable measure, especially when used alongside other indicators such as free school meal eligibility or parental education. The answer is not to abandon targeted action but to design it carefully, with nuance and flexibility.

What must be resisted is the charge of tokenism. Ring-fencing internships is not about punishing privilege; it is about opening doors that have long been locked. It accepts a simple truth: sometimes fairness means treating people differently in order to achieve balance.

Equity, then, is not charity. It is the conviction that, whilst potential is evenly spread across society, opportunity is not. Ring-fencing internships for working-class people is a modest intervention with profound consequences: a way to rebuild trust, to diversify decision-making, and to ensure Britain is led not just by the few who can afford to take unpaid chances, but by the many whose talent has too often gone unheard. It’s not a hand-out, but an opening; not aid, but justice. And ultimately, it should lead to better governance for us all.