Capping the problem

Immigration issues were very prominent in the last general election - often seen as the elephant in the room that many politicians tip-toed around.

However, in the coalition agreement the need for a non-EU immigration cap was set out. The aim is to reduce the numbers coming in from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands, back to levels seen in the 1990s.

Cameron claims that a cap will finally put a cap on the heated issue of immigration in the public domain (excuse the pun!) The thinking is, the public will be appeased by action and thus, it will no longer pose a problem.

The number of bogus colleges with bogus students would also be curbed. Hence, a cap will reduce the number of people coming to the UK to work in the black economy.

However legitimate the plans may be, perhaps these comments are untimely. On a visit to India to strengthen economic ties, Cameron talks about a cap that would potentially prevent Indian doctors, nurses and engineers seeking employment in the UK. India's commerce minister, Anand Sharma has even gone as far as claiming it could have an adverse effect on trade relations.

The key to all our woes...

...in David Cameron's eyes, it's certainly our foreign trade policy. And rightly so. By demonstrating Britain is "open for business", we can attract healthy foreign inward investment.

His reasoning is very logical: in times of austerity, when government spending is curbed on every level to tackle the structural budget deficit, we need trade. Companies all over the world need to buy British goods. Private companies must be the engine of growth as the public sector is squeezed, if we are not to see jobs lost.

Accordingly, Cameron has made it clear that diplomats, regardless of their juniority, must promote UK business abroad by trying to win orders for UK firms.

In the last week, the Prime Minister has been on a "jobs mission" - from the USA to Turkey to India. This is the right strategy.

Freshfields

I have always thought that I wanted to go into the law profession in the future. So, to find out a bit a more about the field, I decided what better way than getting first hand experience; for the last three days I have been on work experience at Freshfields.

Being able to mingle with the people at the firm, from trainees to associates to partners, my time at Freshfields provided an ample opportunity for me to gain exposure to working life.

I worked in the Employment, Pensions and Benefits (EPB) Department shadowing an associate. I was able to learn so much more than I could by researching on the internet! First off, I read through and discussed an Employment Appeal Tribunal document . All three days I sat in on the department's training sessions - on cross border deals, treasury shares and pensions schemes. These sessions were littered with incomprehensible jargon! Accordingly, I made a glossary of all the legal terms I learnt.

Perhaps the most rewarding task I completed was my note on "Responses to Industrial Action." The note, based on research from books on employment law, outlined how a firm could deal with official and unofficial strikes from their employees. It was sent to the whole department for future reference!

After three fruitful days of working at Freshfields, my passion for this area is burning stronger than ever!