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Times letters: ‘Working class' internships for civil service

Times letters: ‘Working class' internships for civil service

Times12 hours ago
Sir, Your editorial rightly ridicules the plan for civil service internships to be restricted to 'working-class students' to make Whitehall more representative ('Normal People', Aug 2). We seem to be going full circle through ideological, inverted snobbery. More than 40 years ago, when applying to join the army, I was asked by every prospective regiment what my father did for a living (it was assumed my mother did not work). Later, when I applied to leading firms of surveyors, I faced the same question, but at least usually about both parents.
It was wrong then and is even more so now, as society has moved on. In my professional career I have recruited graduates, interns, placement students and apprentices for more than 30 years. I have always selected the best people for the job, regardless of perceived 'class' or any other characteristic such as ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation. That should be the case in every walk of life. Diversity has been proven to produce more successful teams, and should emerge naturally from a genuinely open recruitment process. Our government can do better than taking us back to the 1980s.
Richard Petty
East Molesey, Surrey
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