BBC: Nick Clegg has come under fire over his plan to improve social mobility, with Labour claiming it is "mission impossible" with him at the helm.
In an angry Commons exchange, deputy leader Harriet Harman accused Mr Clegg of "betraying a generation of young people" by raising tuition fees.
But the deputy PM said Labour had failed to improve social mobility despite doubling public spending.
He said the coalition's "overriding mission" was to make society fairer.
The deputy prime minister faced questions in the Commons after unveiling the government's social mobility and child poverty strategies – entitled Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers.
He said he wanted to stop people getting on in life purely because of "who they know" and has announced that informal internships for young people in Whitehall would be banned.
"They should get an internship because of what they know," he told the BBC.
"It's not just because of someone who's met somebody at the tennis club or the golf club, who's whispered something into someone's ear and they've got an internship for their son or daughter." (+ video) » | Tuesday, April 05, 2011
