Cerys Whiles is looking out across the overgrown lawns of her college at a Greek-Revival temple. The tourists have abandoned Cambridge’s colleges, the punts are tied up and most of the students have gone home. But she feels incredibly lucky to be self-isolating here. “I grew up in Stockport, surviving off food banks and free school meals. It took three attempts to get here. Cambridge has given me my life.”

Cerys is just one example of the astonishing power of higher education to transform children’s futures. Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting, whom I interview in Times2 today, is another. The daughter of a Pakistani TV repairman and a Polish mother who worked in a garage and as a cleaner, she finally made