Ed Miliband has warned that the culture of unpaid work in industries like arts, media, law and finance closes these industries off to those who cannot afford to work for free. If elected, he promises that a Labour-led government would demand that employers pay interns the minimum wage if they work for more than four weeks.

Speaking on Friday as Labour announced its youth manifesto, Mr Miliband said: “In this country, if you want a good job in a highly prized sector, you’re often asked to work for free, often for months on end, sometimes even a year. It’s a system that’s rigged in favour of those who can afford it."

"Putting careers in highly prized jobs – in the arts, media, fashion, finance and law – out of reach for huge numbers of highly able young people [is] not fair. It’s not right. And it prevents our companies drawing on all the talents our nation has to offer. So we’ll put a stop to it. We’ll end the scandal of unpaid internships,” he added.

The issue of unpaid internships is a grey area in many industries - Ben Lyons, co-founder of Intern Aware welcomed The Labour Party's commitment:

"Businesses are crying out for clarity on internships, and the four-week limit offers that – as well as vastly increasing the pool of talent they can draw on. We hope this pledge is the start of a change in the political weather around getting young people into work."