With a horde of 2,500 students apparently waiting on the hills around Penryn, poised to pour into the town, our councillors have once again tried to stem the tide in the name of our overstretched health services.

While the government is imposing more changes on the NHS (consultation next week) it’s important to ask why we must queue so long for doctors, and why Treliske is crammed to the gills every winter.

But are we aiming at the wrong enemy?

While we blame students - or emmets if it’s the holidays - isn’t it telling that the worst time of year for black alerts is Christmas and New Year, precisely when these two groups are conspicuous by their absence.

Instead of worrying about our underperformong hospitals, we should be asking why they are chronically underfunded. This is not a question for the university, or the council, but for the Tory government this county helped into power in 2015.

A mob may be ready to pounce on our services - but it's not students, it's those looking to squeeze the last drops from our NHS.