Sir Harry Kroto, co discoverer of buckyballs and a lone crusader for British chemistry is handing back an honorary degree to Exeter University in protest at a decision to cut its chemistry department.
The justification according to Exeter University spokesman Stuart Franklin is that science subjects, including chemistry, were creating an annual deficit of £3m.
Sir Harry can probably see a day in the not too distant future where 90% of the population will be expected to enter tertiary education and a 100% pass rate will be achieved by doing away with difficult subjects like chemistry and physics, leaving us a surfeit of hotel managers and hairdressers for the nanobots to munch on.