Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are vital areas of learning and research. The loss of physics, chemistry and engineering departments in many British universities has been pitiful to observe. But the recent announcement of funding for universities highlights the disastrous effects of the decision to prioritise these "STEM" subjects. The cultural vandalism of the marginalisation of arts and humanities has been widely and correctly deplored. The effect on the social sciences has attracted less attention. In this article, the author argues that both, arts and humanities and social sciences, are vital to the social and economic future.