Gove condemns Labour's "sham" education plans

Michael Gove has attacked the education plans outlined by Labour yesterday, pointing out that they are a combination of unfunded commitments, re-announcements, and policies that aren’t even supported by their own Ministers.

Legally enforceable home-school contracts were called ‘totally wrong’ by the Schools Minister, Sarah McCarthy-Fry, just three months ago.

Parenting orders have existed since 1998, but not a single one has been applied for in the last five years - and pilots of the one-to-one tuition policy have proved disastrous.

Michael stressed that Ed Balls, Labour’s Schools Secretary, has not given teachers the powers they need to deal with violence and disruption:

“He rejected our plan to give teachers the power to search for banned items. He rejected our plan to let schools make parent contracts compulsory. His new gimmicks will not solve the deep problems we have with bad behaviour in schools.”

Michael, the Shadow Children’s Secretary, also attacked Mr. Balls for rejecting Conservative proposals for radical school reform to create thousands more good school places and raise standards across the board.

“Instead, he has opted for a one-to-one tuition programme that was ineffective - and over budget - when piloted, and a 'September Guarantee' for which the funding doesn't stack up.”