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I see from an ad in Times Higher Education that the Russell Group's role is to provide "thought leadership" to "the UK's 20 leading research-intensive universities". The ad talks of "a robust evidence base", so presumably the claim to be the top 20 has watertight support. Yet it's hard to believe that the universities are really that good: no one in them seems to have told the Russell Group that "thought leadership" stinks. Will "member of the Russell Group" be replaced with the more concise and compliant descriptor "thought follower"?

John Robinson, University of York.