"Surprise £68 million cut in research funding", ran the headline on a story in The Guardian 's online edition last week. The report says: "Not a science researcher in the country would have been prepared for the unexpected revelation yesterday that vital funding to research councils was to be cut." But the move should not have been such a shock for Times Higher readers, given it reported in December 2006 that "research councils fear that the DTI will attempt to fill a hole in its coffers" by clawing back money earmarked for research.