Ah, finally, a truly excellent idea from the Government

Not only is this truly glorious in that it solves a major problem it’s also very brave of the current government to do this. To complete the trifecta they’ve even given us a solid method of checking whether they’re really doing what they say they’re going to do. From the Prime Minister:

Gone are the days where you have to leave your hometown to get a good job.

Technical Excellence Colleges, based in our industrial heartlands, will train the next generation of plumbers, electricians and welders.

That’s national renewal.

From Ed Miliband:

Good wages.

Strong trade unions.

No need to leave your hometown.

Our landmark Clean Energy Jobs Plan will deliver hundreds of thousands of good jobs across the country.

Absolutely, all for it we are.

It has long been obvious that the 50% to university target is a nonsense, a vast waste of money and time. Returning to something more sensible is well overdue. So, obviously, those varied Technical and Further Education colleges which gussied themselves up to be third and fourth rate universities will revert to being useful again - as Technical and Further Education colleges. Very excellent.

The bravery comes from the fact that the only natural voting base Labour has left is among those who teach grievance studies in said temples of unlearning. So promising to abolish the indignatii as a class is indeed brave but we agree, tough decisions do have to be taken at times. There will still be a few such jobs, we’ll obviously still require the occasional Wilt to provide an hour a week of literature to Gas One and Meat Two but the vast weight, the burden, will be off the shoulders of both taxpayers and students.

We will even be able to check their progress on meeting this target. When City University returns to being what it was, Islington Technical College, then we’ll know they’re being serious.

As we say, very brave to insult the voting base in this manner, also brave to give us a simple guide to success, but something that did and does need to be done. So, full marks here, some nettles just do have to be grasped. And if we think about it it really only could be Labour that did this - it was, for the same reason, only Nixon who could go to China.

Now, how do we get that signpainting job that’s surely just about to go out to tender?

Tim Worstall