The apprenticeship scheme was thrown into question, following the damaging report by the government’s own department which found that it is being used as a way of getting cheap labour. Vincent Moss exposed the report and yesterday which stated: “One in five apprentices get no training and one in 20 are unpaid. Following the revelations Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has ordered a probe to look further into the findings.
Their average pay after tax is just £170 a week. The flaws exposed in some of the schemes must be addressed quickly. Labour’s Shadow Sills Minister, Gordon Marsden said just that. He said: “They should take up some of our proposals to expand the number of decent quality apprenticeships for young people which won’t result in them being exploited.”
You can read his article in full here.
On one level it’s somewhat superficial to examine the style of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, and Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, but it’s also inevitable. Of course we wouldn’t do this about a male companion, but then he’d be donning the same suit, albeit in a different shade each day.
The stylish First Lady understands her own style and how to carry it off. But we don’t all get it right, so this kind of thing can provide a helpful reminder about what works and what doesn’t, without the need to be critical of either of them personally. Harriet Walker’s critique actually provides a good insight in how to look good wearing certain things.
She reminds us of the day the two ladies turned up to the second Presidential debate wearing matching shades of Schiaparelli pink, it was for Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Walker says of this potential clashing of outfits: “While the First Lady opted for a minimal Michael Kors shift dress and cropped jacket, her would-be successor was in silk Oscar de la Renta – upstanding and uptown American designers both, and part of the nation’s fashionable fabric, but with very different outlooks: the former, all sporty grace and ease, the latter more traditionally elegant and formal.”
You can read the article in full here.
There was a great article by Paul Harris in yesterday’s Observer ahead of the final push in the US Presidential Election. He’s observed both campaigns and reported just as he’s seen. It’s well worth a read. You can do so here.
