Freelance Journalist Files Discrimination Claim Over Bar Internship Scheme

Freelance journalist Sophie Corcoran has filed a discrimination claim against the Bar Council and the 10,000 Interns Foundation. 80 per hour, is open only to black applicants. Corcoran applied last October and says she received no response. Corcoran, who describes herself as a recent graduate from a Russell Group university, attended a state secondary school and has dyslexia and ADHD.

She stated that the scheme is limited by skin colour rather than broader measures of disadvantage. In a statement through her solicitor, Elliot Hammer, she said the programme is not about serving disadvantaged groups.

The Bar Council said the scheme is lawful positive action under the Equality Act based on evidence of under-representation. A spokeswoman stated that the legal dispute will not affect this summer’s internship programme. The Bar Council has filed a defence that denies all of the claimant’s allegations.

Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, chief executive of the 10,000 Interns Foundation, said the group is confident in the lawfulness of its approach. She stated that the programmes are designed to widen access for young people who remain under-represented.

Anna Bond, a partner at Lewis Silkin, said the 2010 legislation protects white people from discrimination in the same way it protects other ethnicities. 4 per cent of the wider UK working-age population.