Ed Balls has another wizard wheeze

He’s at it again. This morning’s FT reports that Ed “dividing lines” Balls wants an additional £2.6 billion over the next three years in order “to spare education from the looming public spending axe”. That’s not actually why he wants it at all. The real purpose of his cash bid is to put the Tories on the spot. Balls wants Labour  to go into the election depicting the Conservatives as savage school cutters. The fact that the Government’s incontinent handling of the public finances (for which Balls was largely responsible as Gordon Brown’s consigliere at the Treasury) means a £175 billon budget deficit is clearly not going to deter the Schools Secretary. In for a penny, in for a pound seems to be his approach. But surely he is being  too timid. His wizard wheeze could be extended to every department in Whitehall. Just bump up their budgets and then accuse the Tories of being evil axemen when they warn there will have to be cuts to bring down the deficit. Balls is a clever chap but clearly has a bit of a blindspot: he seems to regard the voters as morons.