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Labour focus on education as general election fight begins

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Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, sought to turn the spotlight on education today as the major political parties stepped up their skirmishing ahead of the general election. Mr Balls said Labour would increase spending on education as he set out plans to guarantee extra tuition for primary school pupils who fall behind.

''The schools budget will go up every year, year on year, this year, next year and the year after. The Conservatives are saying they would cut education this year and next,'' he told GMTV. ''The reason is that they have got different priorities. They want to have an inheritance tax cut which goes to millionaires, which would mean that they could not match us on education spending.''

Mr Balls also appeared to confirm that a general election was some time away. When asked whether the Conservatives had ''stolen a march'' on Labour with their campaign plans, he said: ''I don't think so, because we are going to have months of this before the actual election comes along.''

Mr Balls insisted on BBC Breakfast that engaging early with pupils with a problem was effective.

"We are saying in law we will set out a guarantee to parents: if your child falls behind, our investment will ensure your child gets that extra help."

The guarantee on extra help for primary school pupils comes as Chancellor Alistair Darling will also go on the offensive over Tory spending plans, briefing journalists on what aides describe as "flaws" in the Opposition's sums. The Government's finances will be a key battleground during the potentially protracted election campaign, which could last for up to five months.

Gordon Brown was accused of "fantasy" yesterday after he insisted that Labour could keep spending on services and still manage to slash the UK's record debt.

"Our deficit reduction plan was the first in the world. It is halving the deficit in four years," the Premier told the BBC. "You will have to pay more in the top rate of tax to do it. The pension tax reliefs that were very generous in the past have had to be removed. We are raising National Insurance by 1 per cent to protect our public services so that we can still spend more on health and more on education and more on policing."

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said: "This interview confirms Gordon Brown has absolutely nothing new to say at the start of this year for change. Indeed, it's worse than that: he has slipped back into repeating his dishonest nonsense that Labour will go on spending, when his own Treasury figures reveal Labour cuts."

Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, said: "It's simple fantasy to imagine painful decisions can be avoided in public spending, with some departments already talking about 10 per cent."

Mr Brown and Mr Balls will announce this morning that from September 2011 all Key Stage 1 pupils - aged six and seven - will be guaranteed extra help if they fall behind in literacy and numeracy. The support could include tuition in small groups or one-to-one, or bringing in a dyslexia specialist.



The Prime Minister said: "I want to continue to raise standards across the board and this approach, coupled with an increase of specialist teachers in primary schools in key subjects like maths and foreign languages, will help them succeed in school and get the skills they need to get good quality jobs in the future. This is also vital for the country in being able to compete and prosper as the economy grows again."

Mr Balls stressed that their approach would help the most deprived children, as they were often the ones who fell behind. And he contrasted Labour's approach with that of the Conservatives.

"Personal tuition must not be the preserve of those who can afford it - but must be available to all who need it. And even though money is going to be tighter over the years ahead, by protecting schools spending, making tough choices and reducing inefficiency we can afford to make this pledge," he said. (The Tories') decision to prioritise an inheritance tax cut for the wealthiest few instead of protecting the frontline services most families rely on, like schools and police, will be at the heart of the general election choice."

 


Date: 2015-12-24; view: 791


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