Stop the Cuts - National Demonstration

The idea of free university is itself nonsensical, no such thing exists nor has ever existed, nor could exist.

The only question is who pays, the students themselves or the working man though taxation.

People seem to think that if they pay for their course it costs money - but if we take the money from the wages of bin men, engineers, nurses, doctors and hairdressers then it's somehow 'free' ?

I think you're tilting at a straw man here, but I'm less concerned about that than the implication that it's always better for the student to pay for their own education than have the state pay for it.

Where do we stop with this line of argument? I spent years as a student listening to 'working men' of all stripes, but mainly those who (unlike me) hadn't chosen to (try to) go to university, moaning about students, 'parasites', scroungers', and so on. All because the state - i.e. everyone, including myself and my future self - funded my educational choices, which were not their choices. If I bought into their Sun-congenial line of reasoning, I might be similarly inclined to object to the state - i.e. everyone, including myself - funding a healthcare system that is used much more by people with lower educational attainment (unlike me), because in the UK as in most countries they enjoy a greater burden of disease - arguably because of their choices (which are not my choices): to smoke more, to drink more, to exercise less, and so on.

But I don't buy into this line of reasoning. I am happy to pay for universal healthcare, because it makes for a society that is fairer, whatever choices people make, and there are important (and well-documented) benefits that flow from living in a fairer, more equal, society. And for the same reason I am happy to pay out of my 'working man's' taxes to make choosing higher education a viable (or at least not terrifying) choice for people from lower-income families.