Laws: Education department has run out of ideas and direction

Reaction to a speech by Gordon Brown on education David Laws said: "This sounds like pretty desperate stuff from the Prime Minister."

Liberal Democrat shadow children, schools and families secretary, David Laws said; "The vast majority of this speech isn't new, and what is new is unlikely to be delivered by a government which increasingly looks like it is in its final death throws."

David went on to say, "It is pretty rich for Gordon Brown to say he is rejecting the politics of austerity when the Chancellor has just presented spending plans which will involve a real cut in public spending from 2011 onwards."

The proposals which are expected to be part of the Schools White Paper being published in June, would give parents of primary age pupils the right to complain about a secondary school that their children might attend in the future.

David Laws concluded "The education department is fast running out of money and has also clearly run out of ideas and direction. This speech does nothing to challenge the impression of a government which has little to offer either parents or pupils."