Another day, another little inter-coalition spat.

Yesterday’s was about universities. Again.

Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected suggestions the government is considering allowing wealthy students to pay for extra university places.

“There is no question of people being able to buy their way into university,” Mr Cameron told the BBC.

Universities Minister David Willetts said extra places could be funded by businesses or charities and not wealthy individuals.

Universities have always made money from getting wealthy students to pay their way through – in recent years it’s been foreign students that have been milked to subsidise the home students. Why not expand that, providing that the student paying can keep up with the course and that the number of state funded places aren’t lowered to make room. I see it as all-round winning, especially if you set the fees just high enough that it could help towards a bursary.

But because it involves people paying for something that others get for free, thereby giving the appearance of getting an advantage (as opposed to being shafted). And that won’t wash with some people at all…