I don't want to seem conspiratorial but it does seem to be a deliberate ideological attack on institutions that the govt wrongly assumes are anti-conservative. The IPA have been banging this drum on the outside for years and now they have their own MPs on the inside. https://twitter.com/SusanCarland/status/1260710634712207361

One of many negative things the IPA do is try to frame the popular perception of an academic. They want you to think of a boomer Marxist ranting against capitalism. They don't want you to think of the whole sector, training our scientists, engineers, teachers, and doctors.

The point being, regardless of where you sit on the political grid, starving universities of funds, and deliberately targeting higher education as the one sector whose workers do not deserve support in a crisis, is an ideologically-motivated own goal for any government.