In the corridors of power, at the very highest reaches of government, a form of educational freemasonry holds sway.
It has nothing to do with Eton College, nor even the Bullingdon Club – both far more commonly-cited lightning rods for resentments about class, privilege and the fast track to power.
Instead, the surest ticket to the top – for Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem politicians alike – is surely a degree in politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) at the University of Oxford.
It has always been a duffer’s degree, allowing holders to bluff others that they can speak with authority on any or indeed all of the three subjects involved. Superficially this may work, providing they are not talking to anyone who actually does know what they are talking about. This may explain why we are in the mess we are in.