More balls from Balls

I'm not sure if I should be surprised that a press release from Ed Balls, the man who gave us "post-neoclassical endogenous growth theory", would perfectly illustrate the smoke and mirrors of this Government when it comes to taxing and spending, but I'm going to post about it anyway. Take for example how it opened,

[the CSR] delivered a £200m boost to modernise primary school buildings, and an additional £250m to help ensure that all children at school are ready to learn and able to benefit from truly personalised services and support.

But then it said a few paragraphs later,

The new £200m will enable the rebuilding or refurbishment of an additional 75 primary schools by 2010-11, and together with the further funding of £550m, it will allow a total of 275 primary schools to be rebuilt or refurbished - with at least one in every local authority - by 2010-11.

Where did the £550 million come from? No mention of it in the "Notes to Editor", it says "further funding" implying that it's new, so why is it not in the headline welcoming of the money? Hmmmmm.. reannouncement perhaps?

Then we have,

education spending as a proportion of GDP projected to increase from 4.7 per cent in 1996-97 to 5.6 per cent by 2010-11.

Note the decision to use 1996-1997 as a year zero? Note how the increase in proportion to GDP over that long period is actually less than 1 per cent? I wonder what it is from today to 2010-11? So miniscule perhaps it would look a bit silly to boast about? Then we get

Total capital investment in schools will rise over the CSR period from £6.4bn today to over £8bn by 2010-11 - a sevenfold increase in real terms since 1997.

Again a reference to 1997 as year zero. If the capital investment in 2010-11 is £8bn, and that represents a sevenfold increase in "real terms", then that must mean the capital investment in the years from 1997 onwards was, well, bugger all. Yet, when David Blunkett was Education Secretary we had the triple counting incident saying investment was £9bn rising to £18bn. Could Balls be talking bullshit?

Finally we have

Details on how the additional £250m will be spent to help ensure that all children at school are ready to learn and able to benefit from truly personalised services and support will be announced as part of the Children's Plan expected towards the end of the year.

End of the year you say? So what you mean is that there will be a press release that "announces" a "further £250 million investment in schools" in a few months time which will be portrayed as a new announcement not the reannouncement that it will be.