Many graduates receive “paltry returns” for their degrees despite racking up £50,000 in debt, says the chairman of the Education Select Committee.
Robert Halfon will say in a speech on Monday, that between a fifth and a third of graduates take non-graduate jobs, and that any extra returns for having a degree “vary wildly”.
He will also suggest that too many people are studying academic degrees.
University leaders maintain that a degree remains an excellent investment.
‘Lead weight of debt’
In his speech on Monday, Mr Halfon, a former skills minister, will say the nation has “become obsessed with full academic degrees”.
“We are creating a higher education system that overwhelmingly favours academic degrees, while intermediate and higher technical offerings are comparatively tiny.
“The labour market does not need an ever-growing supply of academic degrees. Between a fifth and a third of our graduates take non-graduate jobs.
“The ‘graduate premium’ varies wildly according to subject and institution. For many, the returns are paltry.”
At the Centre for Social Justice, he will say there is an “enormous opportunity in rebalancing higher education” and a strong need for intermediate skills.
“There are skills shortages in several sectors. And there are millions of people who want to get on in life – preferably without a lead weight of £50,000 dragging from their feet,” he adds.
He suggests: “If we are going to continue to lavishly furnish universities with taxpayers’ money, we need to think about how universities can specialise in these areas.
“Existing universities that do not provide a good return on academic courses could reinvent themselves as centres of technical excellence.”
‘Applications’
His comments come as the latest University and College Admissions Service figures show a small drop in the number of people applying to higher education in the UK.
Last year 559,030 people, including foreign students, applied to UK universities. This is the lowest number since 2014.
Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, umbrella organisation for universities, said: “This small drop in applicant figures can be attributed largely to the fall in the number of 18-year-olds across the UK population.
“This group makes up half of all UK applicants to universities. But the demand for courses from 18-year-olds across the UK remains strong, highlighting the continued demand for university education.”
A spokesman for UUK said: “Official figures are clear that, on average, university graduates continue to earn substantially more than non-graduates and are more likely to be in employment. A university degree remains an excellent investment.
“We must, however, be careful to avoid using graduate salaries as the single measure of success in higher education. Many universities specialise in fields such as the arts, the creative industries, nursing and public sector professions that, despite making an essential contribution to society and the economy, pay less on average.”
But there has been growing concern about the amount of debt students are accumulating and the interest being charged on that debt.
The government has promised a review of higher education funding in England in response.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said legislation had been introduced to reform higher education to ensure that students and the taxpayer got value for money.
“The government wants everyone to be equipped with the skills they need to get on in life and succeed in the jobs of the future,” the spokesperson said.
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionDavid Davis and Theresa May will meet Michel Barnier this week
Downing Street has insisted Britain will leave the customs union after Brexit amid claims of Tory disunity over the UK-EU future relationship.
Theresa May has faced calls to set out clearly what she wants to secure from the negotiations leading up to the UK’s departure in March 2019.
But a No 10 source said “to put this to rest, we are categorically leaving”.
It comes ahead of a week of key Brexit meetings with the EU chief negotiator and with her most senior ministers.
OP political correspondent Eleanor Garnier said Mrs May’s bespoke deal could still involve some form of customs arrangement, but the details will need to be haggled over.
On Monday, the prime minister and Brexit Secretary David Davis will meet Michel Barnier ahead of the next round of negotiations getting under way.
Later, talks between officials will focus for the first time on the transitional period planned for after Brexit.
Potential sticking points include citizens’ rights, with the UK insisting EU nationals arriving during this time should not have the same rights as those who arrived before Brexit day.
Mr Davis and Mr Barnier are expected to reveal the progress of negotiations on Friday.
‘Not going to surrender’
How close the UK will remain to the EU’s single market and customs union has been a topic of debate among leading Brexiteers and some of those closest to the prime minister.
On Sunday Eurosceptic Tory Bernard Jenkin accused the government of being “vague” and “divided”, saying Chancellor Philip Hammond was not sticking to the approach put forward by the prime minister.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd – who was a leading figure in the Remain campaign – played down the divisions in the Cabinet, telling the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “I have a surprise for the Brexiteers, which is the committee that meets in order to help make these decisions is more united than they think.”
Media captionAmber Rudd says Jacob Rees-Mogg should not have accused Treasury of fiddling figures
Ms Rudd said they agreed on the need for “frictionless trade”, the ability to strike international trade deals and to avoid a hard border in Ireland, hitting back at those who question whether such a deal can be secured.
“We want to have a bespoke agreement,” she said.
“Now we’re not going to surrender before we have that battle.”
She said Mrs May had an “open mind” on how customs will be managed after Brexit.
Quizzed on what the model might look like, she said she was “not intimidated at all” by critics’ warnings about customs unions membership.
Mr Hammond has said he hopes the UK and EU economies will only move “very modestly” apart after Brexit. But some Brexiteers say this would hamper the UK’s ability to strike free trade deals with other countries after it leaves the EU.
The 10-strong Brexit cabinet sub-committee is due to meet on Wednesday and Thursday.
He is not expected to go on trial in France until 2020 at the earliest.
Following the attacks, Salah Abdeslam became Europe’s most wanted man and was eventually found hiding in a flat in his home district of Molenbeek in Brussels.
Image copyrightBELGIAN/FRENCH POLICEImage captionAbdeslam was arrested in March 2016 after a shootout with police in Brussels
In the trial opening on Monday, Abdeslam and suspected accomplice Sofian Ayari, 24, face charges of possessing illegal weapons and the attempted murder of police officers in a terrorist context.
The men allegedly fought a gun battle with officers who raided the flat where they were holed up in the Belgian capital.
If found guilty they face up to 40 years in prison.
Abdeslam, a French citizen born to Moroccan parents in Brussels, has been held at a jail near Paris. Reports say he has left the prison for Brussels under armed guard.
He will return to France every night during the trial but will be held at another jail just across the border.
Up to 200 police will be guarding the courthouse for the trial.
Scientists are calling for research on the impacts of microplastics on whales, sharks and rays that strain tiny food, like plankton, out of seawater.
They say the ocean giants face “significant risks” from microplastics.
Estimates suggest some whales may be ingesting hundreds of fragments of plastic a day.
The Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Coral Triangle are priorities for monitoring, according to a review of studies.
Researchers from the US, Australia and Italy looked at data on threats to large filter feeders from microplastics. These small plastic pieces less than five millimetres long can be harmful to the ocean and aquatic life.
Contamination from microplastics has the potential to further reduce the population sizes of the large filter feeders, they say.
Yet, there is very little research being carried out into the risks.
Image copyrightELITZA GERMANOV/MARINE MEGAFAUNA FOUNDATIONImage captionManta ray with plastic in Indonesia
“The full magnitude of risks of ingesting microplastics are yet to be fully investigated,” said Elitza Germanov of Murdoch University, Australia, and researcher at the US Marine Megafauna Foundation.
Possible risks include reduced nutritional uptake and damage to the digestive system when microplastics are ingested, she said.
In addition, toxin exposure through plastic ingestion could affect many biological processes, such as growth and reproduction, putting filter feeding populations “under even more strain”, she added.
Flagship species
The study, published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, argues that large filter feeders, many of which are “charismatic and economically important species”, should be prioritised for further research into risks from microplastics.
Filter feeders swallow hundreds of cubic metres of water a day to capture their food from water, and may take in microplastics during the process.
Microplastics are similar in size and mass to many types of plankton.
Image copyrightELITZA GERMANOV/MARINE MEGAFAUNA FOUNDATIONImage captionManta ray, a giant of the ocean, swimming amongst plastic
Studies have shown chemicals associated with plastics in the bodies of whale sharks and fin whales.
“Our studies on whale sharks in the Sea of Cortez and on fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea confirmed exposure to toxic chemicals, indicating that these filter feeders are taking up microplastics in their feeding grounds,” said co-researcher Prof Maria Fossi of the University of Siena in Italy.
“Exposure to these plastic-associated toxins pose a major threat to the health of these animals since it can alter the hormones, which regulate the body’s growth and development, metabolism, and reproductive functions, among other things.”
Whale sharks feeding in the Sea of Cortez off Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, which is an important breeding ground, are estimated to ingest under 200 pieces of plastic per day.
Fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea are thought to be swallowing closer to 2,000 microplastic particles per day.
Image copyrightELITZA GERMANOV/MARINE MEGAFAUNA FOUNDATIONImage captionMicroplastics under the microscope
The researchers say there have been reports of 800kg of plastic found in the carcass of a stranded whale in France and another in Australia contained six square metres of plastic sheeting as well as 30 whole plastic carrier bags.
The report highlights several key coastal regions for research and monitoring within the habitat ranges of the animals, including the Coral Triangle, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea, the Bay of Bengal and other areas that have high microplastic concentration levels, such as the world’s five oceanic gyres.
Whale sharks and other flagship species may act as a focal point for research, especially in countries that rely on wildlife tourism, say the researchers.
“It is worth highlighting that utilising these iconic species, such as whale sharks, manta rays and whales to gain the attention of and engage with communities, policy makers and managers will go far to enhance stewardship of entire marine ecosystems,” said said Ms Germanov, who is a PhD student at Murdoch University.
A number of filter-feeding sharks, rays and whales are on the edge of extinction. Many are long-lived and give birth to few offspring during their lives.
The whale shark, for example, is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Found in tropical and warm temperate waters, it is the largest fish in the world, yet feeds on tiny plankton, crustaceans and small fish.
In the space of less than a month at the start of 1968, 58 fishermen based in the English port of Hull lost their lives in three separate trawler sinkings. Thanks to the efforts of a group of determined women, the deaths would change the industry, with the ripples spreading from the Arctic Sea to the steps of Downing Street.
“I am going over. We are laying over. Help me. I’m going over,” skipper Phil Gay pleaded in a final, desperate message from the Ross Cleveland, which sank while sheltering from a storm in an inlet near Isafjordur in Iceland on 4 February.
“Give my love and the crew’s love to the wives and families.”
The Ross Cleveland was the third vessel to sink, in what became known as the triple trawler tragedy.
The St Romanus had sunk in the North Sea on 11 January, with the Kingston Peridot lost just over a fortnight later off the coast of Iceland. The 20-strong crew aboard both ships all died.
There was a single survivor of the three sinkings, 28-year-old Harry Eddom, the mate of the Ross Cleveland, who made a daring escape from the vessel by raft along with two crewmates who ultimately perished.
“We drove down this fjord and we hit the bottom,” he said in a 1968 interview.
“I got out and I pulled the raft as far up as I could up on to the rocks.”
Media caption‘We had no paddles… we hit the bottom of a fjord’
Eddom – who still lives in Hull – described how he managed to stumble alone to the refuge of an Icelandic farmhouse.
“When I got there it was deserted. I hadn’t the energy to kick the door down… so I just waited and went to the back of it to get out of the snow.”
Described in a Daily Express headline as the “Man who came back from the sea”, he was feted on his return before public opinion turned against him.
There were deeply unfair suggestions he should have given his waterproof clothing to a teenage crewmate who made it into the lifeboat wearing only underwear, while some seemed to judge him simply for being alive.
Within a few weeks Eddom was back at work, as if the tragedy had never occurred.
Image copyrightGEOGRAPH/IAN S/STEPHEN CRAVENImage captionHull’s fishing heritage is remembered in murals on the city’s Hessle Road and Anlaby Road
Fishing was an extraordinarily tough industry: it is estimated that more than 6,000 trawlermen from Hull alone perished between 1835 and 1980.
“Grief, and the commemoration of grief, was a constant for the city,” said historian Brian W Lavery.
“It is often forgotten that fishing was a gigantic industry and the most dangerous on earth, worse even than coal-mining.”
And although sorrow shrouded Hull at the start of 1968 – it was dubbed in one newspaper headline as “The Sad City” – fish still needed to be caught and life pressed on.
But in an era when health and safety practices were still rudimentary, nothing had been done to address some of the issues – chief among them the lack of full-time radio operators – that contributed to the tragedy. Led by the formidable Lillian Bilocca, it would be a group of four redoubtable women who would press for change.
Image copyrightHULL DAILY MAILImage caption“Big Lil” at the head of a demonstration after the disaster
Hull was at the time, according to Dr Lavery, the “greatest maritime city on Earth”, and by necessity one that, on a day-to-day basis, relied enormously on the women who stayed ashore to keep it functioning.
“The men were away for about 20 days fishing and maybe then only back for three,” the historian said.
“Despite the casual misogyny of the era many women told me: ‘We were mother and father to our kids’.”
Bilocca – “Big Lil” as she was nicknamed – embodied the can-do spirit of the women of Hull.
In the face of strong opposition, Bilocca, Christine Jensen, Mary Denness and Yvonne Blenkinsop – the four women dubbed the “Headscarf Revolutionaries” – are estimated to have saved thousands of lives through the safety campaign they fought.
Image copyrightHULL DAILY MAILImage captionA tribute to the lost trawlermen by the players of Hull FC, whose ground was near where the fishing community was based
“The group was not supported by all the men when they started their campaign,” Dr Lavery said.
“Yvonne Blenkinsop was even punched in the face for getting involved in what some called ‘none of their business’.
“It was ingrained: women didn’t go on the dock, so much so that when Lil Bilocca led a women’s march on to the dock, less than half of those following her would step on to it.”
Nor was it easy for the crews themselves to formalise any changes to working practices.
“John Prescott said ‘unionising trawlermen was like herding cats’: after all you can’t have a union meeting at sea,” said Dr Lavery.
The attitudes of fishermen – perhaps today they would be described as macho – were also perhaps a barrier to changes to the industry.
As retired skipper Ken Knox said: “You took danger as a part of life – I was brought up into it from leaving school.”
Media captionDid the rewards on offer to fishermen make the risk worthwhile?
Despite the hurdles placed in Big Lil’s way – she even received death threats in the post – she would not be deterred from her goal.
Along with the other three women, she gathered a 10,000-signature petition calling for reform, leading a delegation to Parliament.
The women met ministers from the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Fisherman’s Charter, which outlined the campaigners’ demands, was presented to the trawler owners’ association after a march on to the fish dock.
When the shipping minister made a statement in the Commons soon after the Ross Cleveland was lost, outlining a plan for government intervention in the trawling industry, years of campaigning by unions and MPs from Hull “had been trumped by seven days of campaigning by Lil and her headscarf army”, according to Mr Lavery.
Image copyrightHULL DAILY MAILImage captionThe sight of Lil Bilocca checking trawler safety became a familiar one on the dock
Among the measures the campaign won were safety checks before vessels left port, radio operators for all ships, improved safety equipment and a “mother ship” with medical facilities for all fleets.
Bilocca became a familiar sight on the dock, asking whether vessels had a full crew and a radio operator before waving them off. On one occasion she was restrained by police officers from throwing herself on to the deck of a trawler whose crew answered in the negative.
In November The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca, a play about Big Lil’s achievements by actor and playwright Maxine Peake, was premiered in Hull during its year as UK City of Culture.
“It’s about women putting their head above the parapet.”
Image copyrightHULL2017Image captionThe Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca won praise from the critics
Hull playwright Val Holmes, who has also written about the life of Bilocca, said: “I think people are just realising what she did actually achieve.”
But as it turned out, the tireless work of the Headscarf Revolutionaries made the lives of fishermen safer just as Hull was losing its status as a bustling fishing port.
“The four women saved thousands of lives with their actions but the irony was within a decade the industry was dead,” Mr Lavery said.
A maritime city that relied on the wealth brought to shore by the “three-day millionaires” – a term coined to describe the short-term spoils enjoyed by the fishermen as a result of their weeks at sea – was already past its trawler heyday by 1968.
Leeds will now be looking for their seventh manager since 2014.
Saturday’s defeat at the hands of former manager Neil Warnock’s Cardiff was a third in the last four Championship matches for the Whites.
Dane Christiansen, a former Barcelona and Spain striker, replaced Garry Monk last summer and won five of his first seven league matches to take Leeds to the top of the table in September.
However, a run of four defeats in five in October checked their promotion charge and their current seven-game winless run sealed his fate.
Leeds issued a statement on Sunday which read: “Chairman Andrea Radrizzani and the board of directors would like to thank Thomas and his staff for their hard work over the past eight months.”
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson has died after being hit by a suspected drink driver in Indiana on Sunday.
Jackson, 26, was one of two people killed in the incident when they were struck by a vehicle while stood on the roadside.
Jackson made 16 appearances for the Colts in 2016, recording 66 tackles, but was injured throughout this season.
“Edwin was loved by all,” the Colts said in a statement.
“We admired his outgoing personality, competitive spirit and hard-working mentality.
“He was well-respected among all with whom he crossed paths, and he will be greatly missed in our locker room and throughout our entire organization.”
Indiana State Police say Jackson was a passenger in a 2018 Lincoln when he fell ill, and had got out of the car before he and his driver were hit by a Ford F-150 pickup truck.
In a statement, police say the driver of the vehicle – a 37-year-old man – fled the scene on foot before being apprehended shortly after.
They believe the driver was “intoxicated and driving without a license”.
Mr Zuma is not due to leave office until the 2019 elections. However, the ANC has seen its popularity fall during his second term amid a weakening economy and claims of corruption.
The president has been beset by a series of corruption allegations but denies any wrongdoing.
Mr Ramaphosa, who as the ANC’s new leader is in a strong position to win the 2019 elections, has called for party unity.
But correspondents say fears are growing that he and his allies in the ANC may move against Mr Zuma if he refuses to stand aside.
Former CIA Director John Brennan criticized Nunes and GOP lawmakers for not allowing Democrats to release their own counter memo, which the White House has said it would consider releasing. | AP Photo
Former CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday accused Rep. Devin Nunes of abusing his House Intelligence Committee chairmanship after he orchestrated a memo that alleges FBI misconduct.
“We don’t have access to the underlying information of the Nunes memo, which clearly indicates that he was being exceptionally partisan in this,” Brennan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” I’ve had fights with the Dems over the years when I was in the Obama administration … but I never saw the Democrats do something like this that was so partisan, so reckless.”
Brennan asserted that Nunes (R-Calif.) was trying to protect President Donald Trump with the memo.
Nunes’ memo, which was released Friday with Trump’s support, claims the FBI obtained and renewed surveillance warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page by relying heavily on a dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.
Democrats have argued that the memo aims to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether Russia colluded with Trump’s presidential campaign.
Brennan criticized Nunes and other GOP lawmakers for not allowing Democrats to release their own counter memo, which the White House has said it would consider releasing.
“The fact that Devin Nunes and Republicans denied the ability of the minority, the Democratic members of that committee, to put out its report is just appalling,” Brennan said. “I think it really underscores just how partisan Mr. Nunes has been. He has abused the office of the chairmanship … and I don’t say that lightly.”
The former CIA director argued that Nunes should have conducted hearings and interviewed FBI officials. Instead, Nunes “just put out publicly one side in a very selective, cherry-picked memo.”
In 2017, President Donald Trump made political hay by needling the NFL over players who knelt during the national anthem. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump thanked America’s service members on Sunday ahead of the Super Bowl — and not-so-subtly reminded the country of his opposition to NFL players who kneel during the national anthem.
“We owe these heroes the greatest respect for defending our liberty and our American way of life,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House. “Their sacrifice is stitched into each star and every stripe of our Star-Spangled Banner. We hold them in our hearts and thank them for our freedom as we proudly stand for the National Anthem.”
In 2017, Trump made political hay by needling the NFL over players who knelt during the national anthem as a sign of protest and to call attention to racial injustice in America. Many viewed the president’s comments as racially charged.
Sunday’s Super Bowl pits the New England Patriots against the Philadelphia Eagles. No players were expected to kneel during the anthem at the game.
Trump already eschewed one recent Super Bowl tradition by declining to grant an interview to NBC, which is broadcasting the game. Trump gave an interview to then-Fox News host Bill O’Reilly in 2016, when Fox broadcast the big game.
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