Stitch-up or Balls-up
Ed Balls - Labour's shadow chancellor - has been in the headlines recently.
Over his role in what was either a Labour 'stitch-up' or a carefully choreographed but perfectly businesslike 'plan' - to replace Prime Minister Tony Blair with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Private papers implicating Ed Balls were leaked to the Daily Telegraph - which then had a field day by allowing the story to drip feed slowly into the public domain.
Ed Balls told the BBC at the time: "The last time I saw them [the papers] was when they were on my desk in the [education] department. I don't know how they were taken and got to the Telegraph."
Balls went on to suggest that the Conservative Party may have played a part in leaking his private papers - and a formal leak inquiry by the Cabinet Secretary is still underway.
But to my mind the real scandal is that all this provate Labour party and non-government activity was taking place - while Balls was supposed to be doing his day job - as Secretary of State for Education.
One of the biggest jobs in government - with a six figure salary - yet the government minister involved has time to 'plot' or 'plan' on internal Labour party affairs.
The simple truth is that if these papers were truly private - as Ed Balls claims - then they had no place in a government office.
The papers should never have left his home - or personal PC - where they belonged.
Over his role in what was either a Labour 'stitch-up' or a carefully choreographed but perfectly businesslike 'plan' - to replace Prime Minister Tony Blair with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Private papers implicating Ed Balls were leaked to the Daily Telegraph - which then had a field day by allowing the story to drip feed slowly into the public domain.
Ed Balls told the BBC at the time: "The last time I saw them [the papers] was when they were on my desk in the [education] department. I don't know how they were taken and got to the Telegraph."
Balls went on to suggest that the Conservative Party may have played a part in leaking his private papers - and a formal leak inquiry by the Cabinet Secretary is still underway.
But to my mind the real scandal is that all this provate Labour party and non-government activity was taking place - while Balls was supposed to be doing his day job - as Secretary of State for Education.
One of the biggest jobs in government - with a six figure salary - yet the government minister involved has time to 'plot' or 'plan' on internal Labour party affairs.
The simple truth is that if these papers were truly private - as Ed Balls claims - then they had no place in a government office.
The papers should never have left his home - or personal PC - where they belonged.
