Ed Balls It Up

Re: the SATS fiasco and ETS, here's Ed Balls response c/o The Telegraph:

'Mr Balls admitted yesterday that he was effectively powerless to sack ETS over the Sats fiasco.

In a letter to the Commons schools select committee, Mr Balls said he shared “the frustration and anger of teachers, children and parents about the delays in the release of test results”.

But he insisted that ministers could not intervene to rip up ETS’s £154m contract to mark papers because the deal was brokered by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the exams watchdog.

Mr Balls said: “The contract with ETS Europe was drawn up and has been managed by QCA, at arms length from ministers, to ensure the independence and objectivity of the testing regime. Any discussions about the contract are legally a contractual matter for the QCA and ETS Europe.'

In other words "Not me, mate, it was him over there," combined with the subtext, "when it comes to dealing with business we're such a bunch of useless fuckwits that we couldn't drive our way out of an empty garage."

Or, as I believe Ball-Brains has said, he's "accountable" but not "responsible". Go stand in the corner, you dunce. And read a bloody dictionary, while you're there.