A frisson of anxiety passed through Britain’s universities this week when the Financial Times reported that the Treasury was resisting a ￡2bn bailout for the higher education sector. Coronavirus is hitting these institutions hard, with the loss of overseas students who bring in ￡7bn of fee revenue. Universities UK, the umbrella body, has developed a rescue package but the sector’s advocates are meeting a cool response in Whitehall.

The reason is that universities are not in favour at the moment — their critics see them as having grown too big and too expensive, with vice-chancellors paid too much, and the critics are influencing government policies.

Too big? Universities have certainly grown. Participation in higher education among the under-30s is now up to 50 per cent. At every stage of this long-term trend the sceptics have said the demand can’t continue, but then it does. South Korea, one of the heroes of the coronavirus crisis, with a sophisticated and effective response, has 70 per cent of its young people going to university. Britain’s birth rate was at a low point 18 years ago, so the real challenge now is to plan for growth as the number of young people starts to rise again.