Bloom's law....
Bloom’s law states: any government or charity scheme to help the poor and disadvantaged should be torn up every 10 years and changed totally, because by then the middle classes will have taken it over for their own benefit.
Private and grammar schools are the most obvious examples, charitable status for helping the poor boys of Windsor anyone?
Now we can add apprenticeships to the list.
Government attempts to reform the apprentice system have been a total and complete failure. Numbers are down just when we need to train more and more young people to fill skilled jobs. And as the FT pointed out this week apprentices are now being taken over by the wealthiest in society not the poorest.
In part this is because the government was so incompetent that it made it possible for companies to spend vast amounts on training management and take the money from apprentice funds.
But on top of that, the middle classes have now worked out that their children can get an excellent start in the professions with an apprenticeship, with no student debt and while being paid.
Bloom’s law needs applying now or the system will be totally taken over by the middle classes and yet another avenue for progress and improvement for the poorest will be lost.
But then giving free stuff to the middle classes is an election winner, so don’t hold your breath.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.