Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Allegra Stratton

Social mobility: Why some are more mobile than others

If the activity of the past few days is anything to go by, it seems social mobility is the one area of government policy all are agreed on.

Who needs an announcement on a third Heathrow runway when you can have a handful of announcements on social mobility?

But one minister tells me he's warned Brown of a possible flaw in the Big New Idea – diagnosing where the middle classes tenaciously grip hold of professions – and that's ... nepotism.

The minister sees a trap being created by one of the government's policies.

"If you insist that 50% of children must go to university, you devalue university degrees," the minister sighs.

"This means that employers are more likely to look to applicants who come with more than a degree, and often it's that little something extra – the pedigree of arriving through a well known contact or the intellectual confidence of the middle classes – that does it.

"That's the exact network [Alan] Milburn is now tasked with banishing. I've told Gordon."

Apparently, the prime minister nodded.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.