Labour blasted for restricting civil service internship to working class students

Labour has limited civil service internships to students from "lower socio-economic backgrounds" in a bid to make the government more working class. The main internship, aimed at university students, will now be restricted to those from poorer families, which will be determined by the jobs their parents did when the applicant was 14-years-old.

The "leftist" move has been condemned by the Tories for disallowing students from all backgrounds. "No young person should be told they're not welcome based solely on leftist social engineering," Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood told the BBC. "We believe in opportunity based on what you can do, not where you come from. We all want to see greater opportunity for working-class young people. But this scheme sends the message that unless you fit a particular social profile, you're no longer welcome."

From summer 2026, only students from poorer backgrounds will be eligible for the programme. Those who are successful during the internship will also later be prioritised to the Fast Stream for the civil service's graduate programme.

Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister who pushed for the change, told the state broadcaster: "We need to get more working class young people into the Civil Service so it harnesses the broadest range of talent and truly reflects the country.

"The government makes better decisions when it represents and understands the people we serve."

The summer placement programme is open to undergraduates at university in the final two years of their degree. It is a paid role of £430 per week, which lasts up to eight weeks.

Around 200 students will gain experience on writing briefs, planning events, conducting policy research and shadowing civil servants.

In May, the government announced that it was cutting the number of civil servants working in London by 12,000. Jobs will also be dispersed to a series of regional "campuses" across the country.

11 office buildings in London are expected to close, as two major sites in Manchester and Aberdeen will be created.

New roles will also be available across Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Darlington, Newcastle and Tyneside, Sheffield, Bristol, Edinburgh, Belfast and York.