Degree of uncertainty

Is the National Union of Students about to get its first FE president? Shane Chowen, vice-president for FE, has thrown his hat into the ring - via Twitter, naturally - following the news that Aaron Porter will not seek re-election.

Mr Porter’s decision was unusual for an NUS president, but FErret can see how he might want to hasten his stint working for a think-tank followed by a career as a Labour Party hack, rather than risk a repeat of the scenes in Manchester last month, where he was chased through the streets to cries of “Scum! Scum!”

Mr Chowen, who stepped into Mr Porter’s shoes to speak at the Manchester rally, got a taste of the job when he was forced to dodge eggs thrown at him by the crowd.

Will the NUS membership be able to stomach a president who hasn’t been to university, though? Good luck, Shane.

A little too snippy

You haven’t made it until you’ve been patronised and insulted by Liz Jones, Daily Mail columnist and author, according to her Wikipedia page, of How to be a Vacuous Parasite and Help Destroy British Culture: the Liz Jones Story.

Her previous targets have included the people of Exmoor, women who reproduce and the murder victim Joanna Yeates. Now we can add college beauty therapy students to the list.

Ms Jones, who says she demands the highest levels of pampering, this week visited a new spa in a Tesco supermarket, giving it a manicured thumbs-up despite a lack of rainforest sounds or footbaths filled with rose petals.

“It is also very friendly (my therapists were sweet - not the straight- out-of-technical-college types you get in provincial spas),” she typed. Careful there, Liz: we wouldn’t want any of those college-trained beauticians to slip with the nail scissors.