The Telegraph recently published an analysis of what it called “Mickey Mouse degrees”. English literature, fine art and photography were among those listed as the top Mickey Mousers, which it said were “low ranking” courses that lead to "stagnant" opportunities and “damage your career prospects.”
Interestingly, many people with these degrees work at the Telegraph. According to LinkedIn data, more than 300 people at the paper studied either English, Photography or Art & Design – including the journalist who wrote the article and, er, the editor Chris Evans.
The Londoner notes these stats with some trepidation, as there are several ex-Telegraph journos at the Standard. But that’s OK – as the analysis helpfully points out, “some have bucked the trend”.
The plan is… working?
Governments become known for their rallying cries, from Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit done,” to Liz Truss’s “growth, growth, growth” (that one went well). The Sunak government has landed on one it really likes: “Our plan is working”. Work and Pensions minister Mel Stride has tweeted those words five times in the last two weeks, while Rishi Sunak trumpets them in parliament (often to gales of laughter). Penny Mordaunt, John Glen and James Cleverly have also said the mantra this month. Labour, on the other hand? "They have no plan".
Those with a long political memory will recall that “our plan is working” was the tagline from David Cameron’s 2015 re-election campaign, a mere five premierships ago. The Tories won an additional 24 seats in that election, gaining a majority over Labour. Sunak might be hoping to ride that wave. But with the Conservatives projected to lose 196 seats in the upcoming election, it seems the plan is not working quite so well this time around.
Also throwing a spanner in the works is Community Notes, which appear below tweets and allow users to fact-check potentially misleading posts. Sunak recently tweeted “I have a plan to stop the boats and it’s working. Small boat arrivals are down.” Sounds promising, but for the note below: “The number of migrants arriving by small boats since 1 Jan is already higher than this time last year.”
Love is in the air at the OWO Hotel in Whitehall. Their Italian restaurant Paper Moon hosted a lunch to celebrate the launch of a special Valentine's Day menu. Actress Donna Air was there, along with DJ Henri Bergmann and socialite Henry Conway. After lunch, artist Martha Freud guided everyone through a special Valentine's themed ceramics workshop.
