A GB News commentator is suing a charity that organises internships for black and ethnic minorities because they do not organise schemes for white people.
Sophie Corcoran, 24, said she applied to the 10,000 Interns Foundation programme, run in conjunction with the Bar Council, in October while she was ‘exploring a legal career’.
She said the £14.80-an-hour scheme had six-week placements with legal organisations and ‘appeared to be a valuable opportunity to gain practical experience’.
But after her application was acknowledged, she had no further contact and claimed: ‘I believe it is because of my race.’
Her online crowdfunding appeal has a target of £50,000 to cover estimated legal costs but the total so far is only £3,000.
Miss Corcoran said: ‘My biggest issue with the black interns scheme is that it’s not about serving ‘disadvantaged groups’, it’s targeted purely based on skin colour.
‘You could be disabled…from a single-parent family, or have gone to a failing school. But to them, none of that disadvantage exists if you are white.
‘You can only be disadvantaged if you are black.
GB News commentator Sophie Corcoran, 24, is suing a charity that organises internships for black and ethnic minorities because they do not organise schemes for white people
‘There is nothing unfair about letting hard work, talent, and merit dictate success. Your race should have nothing to do with it.’
Her legal suit claims she has faced loss of employment opportunity as she is white, and discrimination under the Equality Act.
The 10,000 Interns Foundation, a charity formed in 2020, places candidates with organisations such as the Royal Academy of Arts, Bloomberg and HSBC.
The Bar Council, governing body for 18,000 barristers, confirmed it had been ‘served with a claim relating to the programme’ and will ‘vigorously’ contest it.
