Bankrupt lefty bloggers Left Foot Forward are in such dire financial straits that they have resorted to advertising for slave labour interns. They’ve spent too much and are running a deficit – you couldn’t make it  up.

Back in 2011 the blog was among the fiercest critics of unpaid internships, jumping aboard the Intern Aware campaign lobbying the government to ban the practice. It ran posts including one titled “Unpaid Internships Are Wrong“, which suggested that offering young people jobs with no pay could be illegal and even asked for readers undertaking unpaid internships to contact them in confidence. Left Foot Forward also set up a “Living Wage Appeal“, part of which involved them promising to pay their interns. Their position was crystal clear.

Their stance hadn’t changed earlier this year either when they waded into the great workfare debate, arguing that: “The claim that it is aimed towards providing useful work experience that will lead to jobs is demonstrably untrue…Not only is it wrong, but it may actually reduce young people’s job prospects“. Pretty damning stuff…

Imagine Guido’s surprise, then, when he saw that the very same Left Foot Forward were advertising for an editorial intern to work in a “voluntary” capacity, without pay. Candidates are required to have “knowledge of HTML; picture editing; data analysis and presentation; journalistic experience; and a knowledge of progressive organisations”. Sounds like a real job to Guido, and they aren’t even paying travel expenses. Judging by the furious reaction in the comments, Left Foot Forward readers don’t approve of their new policy on slave labour. Guido is happy to report that he always pays his interns…