Gove goes on the attack over school building row

At education questions, Michael Gove has clearly decided that that’s enough apologies over the cancelled school building mistakes, time to attack. He’s gone for Ed Balls as author of chaos and waste in the BSF (Building Schools for the Future) project.

He claimed that one individual consultant got £1.35m from the budget for school buildings. Ed Balls said he’d just received list version no. 5 and that it has 20 additional cancelled building projects on it. That makes the total number of mistakes since the first list: 20. Team Balls has not yet found any new mistakes (of substance) in list no. 5.

Mr Gove’s allies say they’re convinced that Ed Balls has a mole in the department, which suggests that Mr Balls’ persistent questions about Mr Gove over-ruling officials’ advice that the lists should not have been rushed out last Monday might be well-founded. There was certainly no refutation of that claim from Michael Gove in the Commons just now or in his latest letter to Ed Balls.

One Tory backbencher shouted “leadership bid” as Ed Balls started his first question, and this can do no harm to Mr Balls’ attempt to win the Labour leadership.

Unite, Unison and the GMB will soon decide whether to nominate and who. Trade union leadership recommendations can bring 40-50 per cent membership support in behind it.