Open effort to be secret

The Higher Education Academy, owned by Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals, promises to be all things to all higher education institutions. Odd then that Paul Ramsden, its chief executive, wasn't invited to all of the UUK conference last week. He was allowed in for Charles Clarke the Education Secretary's speech, but apparently the rest of the conference was too secret for him to attend. Such efforts to be open so early on bode well.