Universities will always feel the tension between the intellectual purity that Mr Collini demands and the grubby business of picking and preparing the future middle class.
The controversial issue is said to have caused tension between Mr Blunkett and Mr Blair, who is reported to feel that the proposed reforms do not go far enough.
Lee's set has the dingy feel of a furnished room, and Robert Kaplowitz's sound design helps to screw up the tension to a pitch high enough to smash glass.
So great is the tension that Newsnight has heard from Treasury sources that there are many people planning for the CSR who feel they are going through the motions.