A DEFIANT Tony Blair squared up to Labour’s education rebels yesterday, offering them little hope of compromise, but admitted that getting his Bill through the Commons would be “a high-wire act”.
He used his monthly press conference to directly contradict critics of plans for new trust schools, who include Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, and John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister. They opposed the whole concept of new self-governing trusts, despite growing evidence that greater independence for schools drives up standards, Mr Blair said. He also refused to rule out resorting to Tory support to get his Bill through the Commons, a high-risk strategy that could result in the loss of the Bill and his authority. If the Bill is lost, calls for Mr Blair to step down would intensify.
The number of Labour rebels opposed to the Bill is expected to reach 100 this week, and Mr Blair admitted that he had a fight on his hands and the stakes were high.
“I am not intending to lose it, but it is a bit of a high-wire act just at the moment, I accept that,” he said. “I have got significant numbers of my own side who are against it. But my job is to go out and say to people this is critical, about standards, about educating our children.”
Downing Street officials said that they would like to win the vote with Labour support, but Mr Blair made clear that he would use Tory votes if necessary. “I have never had a problem with my opponents saying they agree with me,” he said.
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The Conservatives renewed their offer to work with him to improve schools. David Willetts, the Shadow Education Secretary, said that the party was genuine in its promise to support the Bill, as long as it reflected the aims set out in last October’s White Paper and gave school more powers.
“We have been very clear from the outset,” Mr Willetts said. “We want more freedom for schools. When the Bill is published, we will take a quick decision on whether the Bill will achieve that. If it does we will back it.”
Mr Blair voiced his frustration at Mr Prescott in particular. In an interview last month the Deputy Prime Minister said that the problem with successful schools was that everyone wanted to go there and neighbouring schools suffered. In a clear reference to this, Mr Blair said: “We cannot have a situation where people say if you have got a good school and lots of people want to go there, well, maybe you should not have that good school because it disadvantages other schools who suffer in comparison. We are never going to win an education debate in the country on that basis.
“The answer to that is to go and find out why the other schools are not so good and lift the standards in those schools.”
Hopes of a compromise are beginning to fade. Attempts by MPs to agree an alternative blueprint to Mr Blair’s reforms collapsed last night after a three-hour meeting broke up without agreement.
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The Commons Education Select Committee is drawing up a response to Mr Blair’s plans for independent trust schools, which many MPs believe will form the basis of a compromise between with the rebels. A draft of their alternative blueprint has, however, angered Conservatives on the committee, who say that it destroys the principles of Mr Blair’s schools White Paper. Labour leftwingers have also opposed the draft report saying that it does not go far enough in protecting the role of local authorities to oversee education.
The MPs met for three hours yesterday afternoon to try to sign off the report, but the session broke up without agreement. Sources described the meeting as frosty and held out little hope of progress when the committee reconvenes on Wednesday. Barry Sheerman, the Labour chairman of the committee, hopes to publish the final report this Thursday.
Conservatives on the committee say that they are furious that the report has “torn up” Mr Blair’s plans and now plan to published their own minority report. Their minority report will fully back his plans for self-governing trusts, highlighting that the policy is more Conservative than Labour.
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