Universities Scotland argue however that level of public funding invested in teaching and research in Scotland’s universities has been unsustainable for a number of years, that and the pandemic has further exposed and exacerbated this financial vulnerability.86 Likewise, Iain Stewart MP, Minister for Scotland, told us that “there were deep concerns, even before the covid crisis hit, that a lot of universities had deficits” and that the “long- term funding will have to be addressed”.87