World News Today: Clegg attacked on social mobility

Mr Clegg said the "sharp elbowed" had dominated workplace internships

Deputy PM Nick Clegg will pledge to give everyone a "fair chance" of success as he launches the government's strategy to improve social mobility.

He will unveil moves to open Whitehall work placements to all youngsters - and get more businesses doing the same.

The government says while only 7% of people attend fee-paying schools, they make up more than half of those in top jobs of most professions.

But a union said education policies were a big risk to social mobility.

The government is publishing its social mobility and child poverty strategies on Tuesday.

It says one in five children are eligible for free school meals, yet only one in 100 study at Oxford or Cambridge universities.

And although just 7% of people attend independent schools, they make up 70% of High Court judges and 54% of CEOs of FTSE 100 companies.

Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Clegg and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith say Labour spent billions moving people above the poverty line, without significantly changing their lives or the life chances of their children.

“A country that is socially mobile bases opportunity on your ability and drive, not on who your father's friends are”

Nick Clegg

They say the strategy will set out "a series of indicators" to measure how they do in expanding opportunities - including whether top universities are allowing enough state-school educated children in.

And they say they want to create a "level playing field" so the majority of people can move up the "ladder of opportunity".

Later Mr Clegg will announce moves to open up internships and work placements to all youngsters - arguing they have previously been "the almost exclusive preserve of the sharp-elbowed and the well connected".

He will say: "Unfair, informal internships can rig the market in favour of those who already have opportunities. We want a fair job market based on merit not networks. It should be about what you know, not who you know.

"A country that is socially mobile bases opportunity on your ability and drive, not on who your father's friends are."

Conservative chairman Baroness Warsi will announce internships and work experience at Whitehall and will say the government is asking all employers to sign up to a "business compact" to ensure their own schemes reflect the "broadest possible spectrum of society".

“Education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet when it comes to social mobility”

Sally Hunt UCU lecturers' union

She will say various professional organisations, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, Association of Chartered, Certified Accountants and Channel 4 have already signed up.

The "compact" also calls on companies to take part in mentoring schemes, send staff into schools to talk about their careers and ensure they recruit "openly and fairly".

Labour leader Ed Miliband recently criticised the Conservatives for auctioning internships and work experience at some of the country's top financial institutions at a recent event to raise party funds.

And the University and College Union, which represents lecturers and other staff, said that allowing universities to charge up to £9,000 a year in tuition fees, and axing the Education Maintenance Allowance, would hit youngsters from poor and average-income backgrounds.

Its general secretary Sally Hunt said: "Education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet when it comes to social mobility, yet since this government took power, we have seen major financial barriers erected in the face of those from low and average-income backgrounds.

"Nick Clegg has made lots of positive noises about the importance of social mobility, but the actions of the government tell a different story."

Mr Clegg has said top universities can only charge the highest amount if they show a dramatic increase in their intake of youngsters from poor backgrounds.

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