British universities can no longer financially depend on foreign students. They must reform to survive | Simon Jenkins

With spiralling deficits and little prospect of government support, higher education's only long-term hope lies in radical change

Universities are becoming primary victims of the chaos enveloping Britain's public sector. News reported in the Guardian has vice-chancellors pleading for a new model" of government funding. This follows reports that one-third of England's universities are trading at a deficit. Since almost one-fifth of UK students in higher education now come from abroad - 125,000 of them from China - there is near panic at the Home Office's determination to slash student immigration.

Some universities, including Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield, UCL and Imperial, rely on Chinese students alone for between a quarter and a third of their income. This means that any Beijing sanction on Britain - such as for mentioning the Uyghurs too often - could turn off this tap at source. Chinese numbers are already falling, by 4% last year, and are compensated only by soaring numbers for Indians, Nigerians, south-east Asians and 135,000 dependents. This last figure the Home Office is eager to cut.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist