The shriek of every producer group interest ever, everywhere:

Ministers should aim for 70% of young people to continue their education after leaving school by 2040, while tuition fees in England should be increased, according to the leaders of UK’s universities.

The “blueprint for change” published by Universities UK (UUK), which represents vice-chancellors, wants the 70% target to be supported by grants paid to disadvantaged students and a new “tertiary education opportunity fund” for areas with low rates of university and college enrolments.

The blueprint makes a string of other recommendations, including a plea for the government to restore financial stability for universities by ending attacks on international student numbers as well as boosting funding for teaching and research.

More should go through tertiary education - academia can wax fat off the fees - those in tertiary education should pay more - academia can wax fat off the fees - government should pay the fees of more people - academia can wax fat off the fees - more international students paying full freight should be allowed - academia can wax fat off the fees - and taxpayers should stump up more money to boot in order to bloat those not already waxing fat off the fees.

As we say, every producer group ever, everywhere. Spend all of everyone’s money on me.No, me. ME!

This would work rather better in this instance it it weren’t for this:

42% of university-educated workers outside London work in a job that does not require a degree, up from 31% in 1993. The share is highest in Lincolnshire and Cumbria, where more than half of graduates work in non-graduate jobs (58% and 52%, respectively).

We can check this against the ONS numbers. About right. Some half of the people who have a degree do a job that doesn’t require a degree. And that’s before we start counting how “degree required” has slithered down the competence scale to where even journalists - no, really journalists - are expected to have one.

The information from reality is that the tertiary education system should be - at minimum - slashed in half from its current size. Which is a bit of a problem for those academics who would wax fat. You know, this science thing? Take our cues from the reality outside the window, facts and all that?

No, really, it’s a significant problem. Not just that the demand is contraindicated by that reality but supposed academics so ignorant of the reality aren’t worth supporting with any of our money, are they?

Shall we say a 75% haircut then? Any advances on that?

Tim Worstall