It goes without saying that Labour is vehemently opposed to the children of the privileged classes leapfrogging their way into plum jobs. So congratulations to Euan Blair, eldest son of the prime minister, who has won a prestigious internship at the US Congress entirely on merit.
From next January he will spend three months working for the Republicans on the rules committee of the House of Representatives. He is then expected to put in a stint with a Democratic congressman. And if the poor lad gets lonely in Washington he can always call on his dad’s friend George to eat pretzels and watch football with.
An internship is a highly prized post for young ambitious Americans who want to make their way in politics. There are around 5,000 such jobs on offer, and successful candidates are picked from more than 100,000 applicants.
Euan is currently shaking off the cares of university life with a holiday in Las Vegas, of which Elvis Presley once sang: “There’s black jack and poker and the roulette wheel. A fortune won and lost on ev’ry deal”. Oh dear, is this entirely wise? Just think of the lecture tours his mother will have to take on if anything goes wrong.
Straw dishes up a handful of mandarins at dinner with son
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It was a cosy family dinner. Just Jack Straw and his son William. Oh, and the cabinet secretary, the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office and a top Downing Street adviser. Details of the meal, hosted at Straw’s official residence in Carlton Gardens, London, in July 2002, have just been released under the Freedom of Information Act. So was the foreign secretary giving his son’s future career in the civil service a helping hand at taxpayers’ expense? An outrageous suggestion, Straw’s friends insist. They say William was merely on hand to entertain the children of Sir Richard Wilson, the then cabinet secretary.