9th July, 2010, 8:22 am Balls attacks Gove’s ‘thoughtless”, “shambolic” assault on schools – 8 in the morning, July 9th Alex Smith Share this article: By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982 * Writing in the Guardian, Ed Balls says that Michael Gove’s cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme has been a “thoughtless” and “shambolic” assault on our schools. * The Mirror says: Labour was busy rebuilding the nation’s schools when it lost power. The Tories have reversed that policy, scrapping investment in our children’s future. * The OBR must be urgently reformed if its independence is to be assured, says the Centre for Economic and Business Research. * And the OBR was “plunged into fresh controversy” last night, after it was accused of making “methodological changes” to forecasts ahead of George Osborne’s buget. * House prices are heading for a crash next year, experts have warned. * Sunder Katwala has put together some classic 80s pop hits to describe Michael Gove’s shambles. * Afghanistan is a catastrophe. But we’ll have to wait for another Chilcot to admit it, says Simon Jenkins. * With more updates from meetings this week to follow later, David Miliband on 50 CLP nominations last night, Ed Miliband on 46, Andy Burnham on 10, Diane Abbott on 9 and Ed Balls on 5. Alex Smith Alex is the founder and CEO of The Cares Family. He was editor and first director of LabourList in 2009-2010, during which time he established the site as the number one Labour blog, and later an aide to Ed Miliband. @alexsmith1982 View all articles by Alex Smith Subscribe to our daily email More from LabourList Comment ‘Three chords and a different truth: how ‘Strong Labour’ beats the populists’ Populists play their politics like country music: three chords and their truth. Patriotism and renewal. A grieving nostalgia… Liam Byrne MP 25th March, 2026, 6:00 am Interview ‘Ensuring union representation in the Senedd’: Cymru reflections with Shav Taj As Labour candidates and activists fight for votes and support ahead of the Senedd election in May, LabourList… Daniel Green 25th March, 2026, 6:00 am News Deficits, disaffiliation and internal democracy – what we know about today’s NEC meeting LabourList understands that the Labour Party is in deficit in 2026 – though it is not clear by… LabourList Staff 24th March, 2026, 5:58 pm
Alex Smith Alex is the founder and CEO of The Cares Family. He was editor and first director of LabourList in 2009-2010, during which time he established the site as the number one Labour blog, and later an aide to Ed Miliband. @alexsmith1982 View all articles by Alex Smith
Comment ‘Three chords and a different truth: how ‘Strong Labour’ beats the populists’ Populists play their politics like country music: three chords and their truth. Patriotism and renewal. A grieving nostalgia… Liam Byrne MP 25th March, 2026, 6:00 am
Interview ‘Ensuring union representation in the Senedd’: Cymru reflections with Shav Taj As Labour candidates and activists fight for votes and support ahead of the Senedd election in May, LabourList… Daniel Green 25th March, 2026, 6:00 am
News Deficits, disaffiliation and internal democracy – what we know about today’s NEC meeting LabourList understands that the Labour Party is in deficit in 2026 – though it is not clear by… LabourList Staff 24th March, 2026, 5:58 pm
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