You may recall, the USA was involved in a bit of unpleasantness in Southeast Asia at the time, and a vocal portion of the day’s young people were a tad upset about it (especially the ones who were at risk of being forced to participate in it).
I clearly remember hearing of protests at some of our major universities, and I expect that some word of those came across the Pond, and was reported to her Majesty’s subjects.
When the University of California at Berkeley came up, did your newsreaders pronounce it Barkly, or BERKLY?
I was a bit young to be listening to the news then, but afaict it’s always been pronounced
BARKLY. Same as in Berkeley square (in which that nightingale sang).