In the early Eighties, I was happily working as a bricklayer, when along came a major recession, which was largely caused by the policies of Mrs Thatcher. I found myself unemployed along with 350,000 other construction workers.

Being out of work was no fun, not least because of the low income. So I decided to use my spare time to get some qualifications. Within a couple of years, I had enough to gain entry into university. I studied philosophy with the history of scientific thought. And I gained a class IIii BA and went on to become a college lecturer.

It was quite a career change.