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Mike Goldstein (Letters, 7 April) sensibly asks, "what about the public interest?" in the future governance of English universities. But what is the appropriate ambit of that future "public interest"? The National Audit Office asks the crucial questions in its 4 March report on financial sustainability: how are taxpayer or student interests to be "protected" in future? What public interest remains in an institution if the taxpayer no longer makes any direct contribution?

Malcolm Gillies, London