Law grad on £16,500 a year who feels he’s “at the back of the queue” for jobs sparks social media storm
A “working class” Vote Leave supporter who told a panel of politicians he feels “at the back of the queue for entry-level jobs” has sparked an explosion of Twitter talk after posts claimed that he’s employed at a London law firm.
At the BBC’s ‘The Great Debate’ at Wembley arena, audience member Karim Khassal — described by the TV show’s host as a “leave supporter” — asked Boris Johnson, Sadiq Khan and four other panellists this question:
As a young, working class man, I feel at the back of the queue for entry-level jobs, housing, and public services. How many people each year can the UK reasonably cope with?
According to one anonymous law student, the question “implied that he was unemployed”.
On Twitter it has been claimed that in fact Khassal is a De Montfort University graduate and a property law paralegal at London Bridge law firm McMillan Williams Solicitors.
Cue social media confusion.
So the "young working class man" Karim Khassal who finds himself "at the back of the queue for jobs" works in a solicitors firm. Hmm.
— Alex Andreou (@sturdyAlex) June 21, 2016
.@sturdyAlex an employed graduate with a law degree working in his field, claiming he's in the back of the queue https://t.co/HkfkB4Mbvg
— Farhan Lalji (@farhanlalji) June 21, 2016
Good on you Karim for getting a job so quickly after being out of work just last night https://t.co/k3aYp6qmyt #Brexit #BBCDebate
— Andrew Rose (@AutomaticWickie) June 22, 2016
Though Khassal did not explicitly say he was unemployed, some Reddit commentators have pointed to a LinkedIn profile which doesn’t show any long periods of unemployment. However, Khassal’s lack of a training contract has not been picked up on by the Reddit crowd, who seem unfamiliar with the lawyer training process.
It is of course worth bearing in mind that “working class” is a difficult term to define, and that working in legal practice doesn’t always equal flash cars and fat pay cheques.
According to the vacancies section of McMillan Williams Solicitors’ website, paralegals are paid £16,500 a year. This is about £11,000 less than the average UK salary and — we assume — a hell of a lot less than most people think law firm employees earn.
Khassal and McMillan Williams Solicitors have not responded to Legal Cheek‘s request for comment.
Turning to the actual political views expressed by the individual, at the time of writing on this unprecedented day, the latest Ipsos MORI poll puts Remain at 52% to Leave’s 48%. The Bookies remain with the Remainers with some odds suggesting more than an 80% chance of the UK remaining in the EU.