Balls: Gove should be ashamed

Tuesday, 27 July 2010 12:00 AM

Shadow education secretary Ed Balls gives Labour's point of view on the academies bill during its third reading debate:

"In the opinion of my hon. friends and I, and many outside experts, the flawed and rushed provisions in the bill risk ripping apart the community-based comprehensive education system that we have built in this country over decades.

"We fear that the bill will make things worse for our schools, our children's futures and the cohesion of our communities, yet it has been railroaded through from second reading to third reading in just seven days, with just three days in committee, and following unprecedentedly constricted debates in the other place.

"He is, in my view, presiding over the most profoundly unfair piece of social engineering in this generation, and in the end he will be ashamed of what he has done this evening and over these past few days. That is my strong view.

"The contemptuous way in which he has treated the House of Commons in recent weeks is a matter of great shame to him as well.

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