Earlier this month, students not disillusioned with his party’s u-turn on tuition fees welcomed Nick Clegg’s dazzling new plans to improve social mobility: "Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers: A Strategy for Social Mobility". Essentially, their message is that the pathway into a career should be "about what you know, not who you know". 

Like many a conscientious student, I have spent the past few months filling in online applications, tweaking my CV, writing gushy covering letters and filling every waking moment racking my brains to figure out how I am going to find that killer internship that will send me on my way to that killer career. Fat chance. I have come to the conclusion that it is nigh on impossible to get meaningful, useful and well-respected work experience unless Daddy’s old school friend owes him a favour, or you have an allowance that could feed a family of four. 

 Scotland has a strong tradition of investing in its young people. Free higher education ensures that the fundamental basis of social mobility is open to all, regardless of your economic background. Schemes such as University of Edinburgh’s very own "Pathways to the Professions" off er high school pupils from less privileged families interested in doing law, medicine, veterinary medicine or architecture the knowledge and experience they need to get into the university. The Saltire Foundation scheme, run by the Scottish Government, gives promising students at Scottish universities the opportunity to work all over the world in the offices of enormous multinational companies gaining invaluable experience and contacts. 

 All of these schemes are a step in the right direction, giving young people the experience they need to step confidently into the world of work. Yet equipping our future work force should not be a responsibility that falls solely on the government; it is equally important that private companies invest in motivated, hard-working and innovative young people who will go on to become the business leaders of the future. It is shortsighted of any company or institution, whether it is political, financial, legal or otherwise, to restrict their internship places to those with connections through family, friends or neighbours.

On the 23rd April, David Cameron completely undermined his colleague’s vision for social mobility by announcing that he was "very relaxed" about giving internships to family friends, revealing that his neighbour was due to start work experience in the near future.  is comes after the controversy surrounding the auctioning of prestigious work experience opportunities for vast sums of money at a Conservative Party fundraising event.

Unfortunately for many of us this is to be expected. Despite Nick Clegg’s well-meaning idea that true social mobility is born of meritocracy, privilege breeds privilege. Based on Clegg’s reputation for upholding his promises to young people, holding our aspirational breaths may leave us blue in the face. The Tories have made their stance clear, and even Clegg’s own MPs haven’t embraced the policy wholeheartedly. Intern Aware, a campaign group, revealed that John Leech, MP for Manchester Withington, when asked how much he would be paying his interns in light of Clegg’s announcement, said that there are “no plans” to ensure Liberal Democrat interns are paid a wage or even expenses; the new plans only apply to those at the Lib Dems' HQ.

Of course, if my own mother was the CEO of an international bank or my father played golf with the editor of the Telegraph, I would expect them to do everything in their power to ensure I had every opportunity available to me, and they would be more than happy to do so. However, they're not, and it is immensely important to give motivated, capable young people the opportunity to get their foot in the door, regardless of whether they once lived next door to David Cameron or not.