The knives are out for Ed Balls at the moment. Partly this is because, as Michael White points out in The Guardian, he is a proxy for Gordon Brown. But it is also because he’s been empire building with little thought to the feelings of his fellow ministers.
One friend of Coffee House points to evidence that Balls gave to the inaugural meeting of the Children, Schools and Families Committee as a reason why Jack Straw might have felt like punching Balls:
I am jointly accountable to Parliament and this Committee, with Jack Straw, for every aspect of youth justice and youth justice policy, even though most of the budget for youth justice is in either the Ministry of Justice or the Home Office, rather than my own Department.
…
Q51 Ms Butler: I will come on to some of the details of the Children’s Plan, but in terms of the Department, how many functions does the Department for Children, Schools and Families have that the Department for Education and Skills is not performing?
Ed Balls: The truthful answer to that is a large number, but a large number of joint responsibilities.
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