‘I feel truly ashamed.’

Sir Keith Burnett (VC, University of Sheffield) who accompanied Theresa May on a trade mission to India, quoted in the THE. Another quote provides a flavour:

I have tried to stay positive for the past four years as I’ve seen things rot. I have groaned as changes in visa regulations pushed more and more potential students away. The government has assured us that it was not deliberately trying to reduce the numbers. Well, that may be the truth, but the results are in. A 50 per cent drop!

Other countries are rubbing their hands with glee at our stupidity. Ms May is announcing that her trade mission has seen £1 billion in deals announced for the UK. But remember that international students are worth £14 billion to the UK economy every year. That’s equivalent to more than one major trade mission a month.

Now, this is indeed about direct threats to UK universities, but I will not be churlish here. You cannot have a strong and robust society without fine universities. What is worth remarking on, is how rare it is to see plain English being used to state the ‘bleedin’ obvious. That plain language is rare reveals how politicised the whole of education (and health) is in the UK. Remember the antithesis of science is not art, but politics.