There’s more evidence of the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do mentality that is coming to define this government in the ‘Unleashing the British Underdog: 10 Bets on the Little Guy’ report published by Dominic Raab MP today.
In the patronisingly-titled paper, the Oxbridge-educated former magic circle lawyer argues that it’s time to expand non-graduate opportunities in law because university is “expensive” and “devalues vocationally minded talent”.
Raab adds: “More broadly, we should ditch the snobbery that says you must go to university to be successful.”
Read between the lines, though, and Raab is in reality urging a certain class of law firm – those specialising in volume work – to “ditch the snobbery”, while knowing full well that the likes of his former employer, Linklaters, will continue to trade on the academic excellence of their solicitors.
There is an apprenticeship at Linklaters: a £15K a year scheme it operates for school-leavers in its print room and billing department with no route into a training contract (which pays at £37,400-a-year). Don’t expect that to change any time soon.