Political footwork

The Dearing review of higher education is set to be a good deal racier than you might expect if Sir Ron's lecture at Brunel University this week is anything to go by. The script released to The THES shows Sir Ron geneflucting vigorously in the direction of the spirit and example of Lord Robbins, but concludes by making you wonder what he has really been reading by giving the late peer's forname as Harold. Stand by for a report in which staff:student ratios, funding formulae and quality assessment give way to carpetbaggers, randy sheikhs and 101 uses for amyl nitrate.