Balls 'breached Speaker's rules'
Friday, 26 June 2009 12:00 AM
By Alice Cannet
Schools secretary Ed Balls was accused today of breaching new Speaker John Bercow's ruling that MPs should speak to the Commons before making any announcement to the press.
Ex-Tory minister Christopher Chope urged Mr Balls to issue an apology to MPs after he announced in the media that the government national strategies for education were to be scrapped.
Mr Chope said in a point of order: "On Wednesday Mr Speaker said when ministers have key policy statements to make the House must be the first to hear them.
"In clear breach of that ruling, today the schools secretary has announced through the Guardian and the BBC that the government has abandoned its literacy and numeracy strategy.
"Either Mr Balls is himself illiterate or contemptuous of the Speaker's ruling - or both."
Mr Chope then asked the deputy speaker Sylvia Heal what powers she could use to force Mr Balls to apologise to the Commons.
She replied that she would bring Mr Chope's comments to the attention of new speaker, Mr Bercow.
Mr Balls had set out the new plan, which could save the government up to £100m a year currently spent on contracts with private firms, in an effort to reduce government bureaucracy.
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