Britain has established a worldwide reputation for excellence in its universities – second only to the US despite much lower levels of funding. Nobody can expect them to be immune from cuts in a recession, but sacrificing a world-class position for short-term savings is surely misguided.

As the Russell Group of elite universities has warned, China already looks set to overtake Britain in terms of total research publications and its universities have been climbing up international league tables.

Closer to home, France and Germany are both pumping huge sums into their leading research universities to improve their international standing.

John Denham, the Universities Secretary, plans to spell out his vision for the future this summer, setting the backdrop to the review of tuition fees this year.

If Mr Denham gets it wrong, one vice-chancellor told Times Higher Education magazine, the resulting row will make the 2004 debate over tuition fees “look like a Sunday afternoon tea party”.

He has made clear that he believes that research funding is the key to ensuring that the system remains “world class”. He thinks universities have a crucial role to play in helping Britain’s economic recovery.

Making cuts just as universities’ income from research charities and business are already being squeezed will not help him to achieve those goals.

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