Leading Article: The weakest link

This week's announcement that the Government will be having formal consultations on how universities can become more business friendly, is the latest development in ministers' desire to see more degrees co-funded by higher education and industry.

The hope is that this will bring about a cultural shift, ensure a better-trained workforce and help to fulfil the Government's target of getting 40 per cent of people into higher education.

All this is perfectly understandable. The problem is that, when asked, employers don't always know what they want, or, at least, what they want now is not always what they want in six months' time.