COMMENT Not so much gamekeeper turned poacher as teacher turned troublemaker: the request from Ed Balls, children’s secretary, for an extra £2.6bn ($4.4bn) over three years to boost education spending has made harder the already tough job of the Treasury. Alistair Darling, chancellor of the exchequer, is right to refuse this bid and should slap down any minister following suit.
Mr Balls’ move has some narrow political merit. It allows him to take part in any post-election Labour leadership contest as someone who sought to protect his department from fierce spending cuts. If the budget did rise, it would make education a more complex campaign issue for the opposition Conservative party. By carefully shifting ground, Mr Balls is blurring dividing lines between the parties: if he could win a spending rise for schools then Labour could challenge the Tories to match it and, if they refused, talk endlessly about “Tory cuts”.
