I was amused to read that some ministers propose to offer themselves as mentors to workless families. I don’t doubt the usefulness of mentoring, but I find it hard to imagine well-heeled ministers establishing a working rapport with dysfunctional families.

Some years ago, I participated in a conference about reaching ‘hard to reach’ learners. The focus was on youngsters who, alienated by their formal education, had no qualifications and no job, indulged in petty crime, got into trouble with the law and so on.

At the conference there were a number of keynote speakers with impressive track records working in deprived areas with ‘unreachables’. Nearly all of them started their session by announcing that they had come from a working class background and were brought up on a rough urban estate. They had been bored at school, got expelled, joined violent street gangs, got into drugs and prostitution and went to jail.

Eventually they had seen the error of their ways, started to study, got some GCSEs, progressed to A levels, went on to university and got a degree. They were now ‘giving something back’ by working with disadvantaged kids, helping them to improve their self-esteem.

As I listened to the descriptions of work these dedicated people were doing with alienated, angry young people, I found myself wondering if coming from a disadvantaged background was an essential qualification. Could someone like me ever be capable of really reaching out in the ‘been there, done that’ ways the speakers espoused?

I was born into a white, middle class family. My parents were supportive, I never played truant and I progressed though my education in relatively easy stages. I have never been out of work, or on benefits, and I do not have a criminal record. In other words, just like most ministers (even the ones who boast that they come from working-class backgrounds) I’ve had it easy.

No, I think the best I can do is acknowledge my inability to actively help the so-called ‘hard to reach’. The best I can do is be supportive from the side-lines and I recommend ministers do the same.