Social mobility role puts Milburn back on Labour front line

Alan Milburn, who will lead a government drive to boost social mobility, said a working-class child growing up in Britain today has less chance of reaching the Cabinet than he did.

The Blairite former health secretary will chair a commission set up by Gordon Brown to ensure professions such as medicine, the law, civil service, armed forces and media recruit more young people from poor backgrounds.

The son of a single mother, who grew up on a council estate in the Co Durham mining town of Tow Low, Mr Milburn told The Independent: "I was very lucky to be part of the most socially mobile generation this country has ever seen. If we make the right decisions now, we can see as big a wave of upward mobility as we saw in the Fifties and Sixties. For all sorts of reasons, a working-class kid growing up on a council estate today would have to be extremely fortunate to end up in the Cabinet."

Related articles

• Cameron: "New babies born with £17,000 debt"
• JCB cuts 684 jobs in latest blow
• £2,500 for employing long-term jobless
• Land of Leather shares suspended
• Threat to 420 frozen food jobs at Findus firm
• 5,000 new jobs in store at Morrisons
• Search the news archive for more stories

He insisted there had been some progress since Labour came to power in 1997, saying social mobility had been stalled for decades. "We have raised the glass ceiling but we have not yet broken through it," he said. "There will be more and more professional jobs in the future. That provides an opportunity for working-class kids to get on the ladder. But it will not happen by chance."

His commission may recommend an extension of student support to include state-funded internships so graduates from low-income families do not miss out on professional careers in which they have to start on low or no pay. He intends to persuade rather than force to widen access, and wants to end a self-perpetuating system in which work-experience placements and first jobs often go to the children of colleagues, friends and family.

Mr Milburn dismissed as "very foolish" the Tories' claim that Labour was reviving the "class war". He insisted: "This is not about attacking the middle class. It is about how we can extend and grow the middle class."

The former minister turned down the chance of a place in the Cabinet but has healed his rift with Mr Brown. He hopes his role will allow him to help draw up forward-looking policies for Labour's next election manifesto.

At a "jobs summit" in London today, ministers will announce a £500m "guarantee"of intensive support to help people out of work for six months back into jobs or training. It includes "golden hellos" of up to £2,250 for employers who recruit and train the unemployed and flexible grants so people can complete training at evening classes after they find work.

An independent inquiry set up by the Liberal Democrats which reports today says that, despite some advances since 1997, a child's life chances still depend largely on their background and parents' earnings. Martin Narey, head of Barnado's and former head of the Prison Service who chaired the inquiry, said Mr Milburn's plan to open up elitist professions did not go far enough. Inequalities in the education system must be tackled if children from poor backgrounds are to be the doctors, army officers and barristers of the future, he said.