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 Analysis A breathing space Budget When John Healey was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was a surprise for those who had… Emma Burnell 29th October, 2026, 9:13 am News Voters welcome Budget energy measures, but demand more action on cost of living Voters welcome the government’s energy bill support, but think more needs to be done at pace to help… Daniel Green 29th October, 2026, 6:00 am Comment ‘Investing in culture builds confidence in communities’ When it comes to building communities, culture is not a nice-to-have, or an optional extra to be tacked… Callum Anderson MP, Chris Curtis MP & Emily Darlington MP 29th October, 2026, 6:00 am
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
Analysis A breathing space Budget When John Healey was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was a surprise for those who had… Emma Burnell 29th October, 2026, 9:13 am
News Voters welcome Budget energy measures, but demand more action on cost of living Voters welcome the government’s energy bill support, but think more needs to be done at pace to help… Daniel Green 29th October, 2026, 6:00 am
Comment ‘Investing in culture builds confidence in communities’ When it comes to building communities, culture is not a nice-to-have, or an optional extra to be tacked… Callum Anderson MP, Chris Curtis MP & Emily Darlington MP 29th October, 2026, 6:00 am
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