text: There has been continued sniping from ministers about the level of reserves held by higher education institutions.
  Even the finance minister Jane Hutt couldn't resist having a swipe at the hundreds of millions of pounds in their coffers, before telling Good Morning Wales why she is rolling back on the proposed cutbacks because of concerns over part-time teaching and scientific research.
  Ministers stressed it was a draft budget and, like all drafts, it was open to consultation before changes were made.
  Be that as it may, there is clearly strong feeling within government that not only can universities afford it, but that their time has come to take a hit after further education colleges took one last year.
  Universities insist the reserves are needed for investment to continue and for the sector in Wales to remain internationally competitive.
  The stand-off between ministers and vice-chancellors was beginning to develop.
  Opposition parties were frustrated that while many of the higher education bosses were lobbying them heavily, they weren't doing so publicly, with the exception of Professor Colin Riordan, the vice-chancellor of Cardiff university.
  But nevertheless it was clear that universities weren't happy, and it was adding to the simmering resentment that had already developed over the government's university tuition fee policy.
  In fact, the general cut and the tuition fees policy became enmeshed because the Welsh government had argued that much of the cash reduction was in fact staying in the system because the money was being re-directed to fee subsidies, rather than going directly to the institutions.
  The comeback from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales was that only around 60% of the tuition fee grants will stay in Wales as the fees follow the students, wherever they choose to go.
  In the end, a political decision was taken not to get involved in a scrap with vice-chancellors.
  As we head into an election campaign, there's an argument to say it would have been a huge distraction but also a potential opportunity for the Welsh government to show it wasn't afraid to make unpopular decisions.
  Labour want the headlines from their latest budget to be about the extra money going into the NHS, and not a fight over funding for scientific research.
  It didn't work yesterday but that is one day, rather than a lingering dispute lasting weeks.
target: If Labour are still in power after the assembly election, I get the impression it will have some unfinished business with universities.