Alan Johnson’s sure putting himself about. After interviews last week with the Sunday Times and with Fraser in our own magazine, he’s now got a comment piece in today’s Guardian. Aside from the exaggerations it contains about Labour’s record on public service reform, it makes a rather odd argument.
Johnson’s first point is that Tory health policy is beholden to provider interest and too light on reform – which is, to some extent, true. But – perhaps mindful that the same things could be said of Labour’s approach on education – he then goes on to attack the Tories’ transformative schools model for basically being too heavy on reform. Here’s the relevant passage:
“And for all the talk of compassion, his plans for education reform look distinctly laissez faire. Take his plan to open schools and expand surplus places wherever parental demand is strongest.
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