MPs should be forced to work in factories and hospitals for two weeks, police commissioner says

All MPs should be required to undergo apprenticeships for two weeks to ‘inform their decisions in the Houses of Parliament’, a police commissioner has proposed this week.

Tom McNeil, the Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, is currently bidding to be Labour’s candidate in Birmingham Northfield and, as part of his manifesto, has proposed the People’s Apprenticeship, a mandatory work scheme for all MPs.

The apprenticeship would be compulsory for all MPs once they are elected, regardless of whether they come from ‘humble routes’ or are Eton educated.

McNeil explained in an op-ed for The Mirror: “We have seen a lot of MPs act as though they are above the law in recent months, and so no one should be given a free pass on the People’s Apprenticeship.

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“Politicians from across the political divide would take part, in what would hopefully be a privileged insight that informs their democratic mandates, rather than serves as a burden they must be seen to endure.

“Lasting two to three weeks, the People’s Apprenticeship would see MPs get their hands dirty by undertaking work experience days across the public, private and third sector.

“The experience should be a genuine trial, and provided security was all in order, shouldn’t provide any easy get outs or luxuries that the people don’t get.”

Through the apprenticeship, McNeil hopes MPs could work in a combination of shops, hospitals, schools, emergency services and factories, all while gaining an ‘experience of the living conditions faced by millions on low incomes’.

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McNeil continued: “With the cost of living crisis bringing many hard working households close to breaking point, people are rightly asking more than ever, ‘just how in touch are our politicians?’ and ‘do they really understand what we’re having to endure?’.

“Being concerned that too many of the country’s leaders come from elite schools or only have experience of high paying corporate jobs in financial industries, is understandable.

“It’s perfectly reasonable to ask if being rich means some politicians have no idea what it is like to struggle on two jobs, fear how you will heat your home or live with the distress of credit card debt. I’d suggest asking these questions is the ‘politics of common sense’.”

In his role as Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner, McNeil visits an array of community services, charities, emergency workers and other community settings, where he ‘learns about new struggles, the impact of poverty and the things people really want to see from their government’.

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He said an apprenticeship for people in powerful political positions would put ‘rocket fuel’ into this kind of learning, and would bring ‘out of touch’ political leaders closer to real world challenges.

McNeil concluded: “It would be money well spent: getting our political leaders onto the streets and away from their dinners at Chequers; understanding people and communities better.”

This comes just a week after unearthed audio revealed Conservative party leader frontrunner Liz Truss said British workers ‘lacked graft’ and ‘productivity’, as well as comparing their work ethics to that of their foreign counterparts.