Sam Townend for Bristol North West

Sam Townend, Labour's prospective MP for Bristol North West says, "I have discussed the Tory pledge of finding money for two new schools for the North of Bristol with the Secretary of State for Schools, Ed Balls, who agrees with me that it is just pie-in-the-sky politics aimed at trying to buy the electorate just before the General Election."
 
Labour's Schools Secretary Ed Balls:

"Sam Townend is right to point out the hidden cost of the Tory new schools proposals for Bristol. Quite apart from funding new schools, the Conservatives have pledged to find £6bn of cuts this financial year to pay for their election promises on tax.

"Unlike Labour, the Tories have refused to ring-fence the schools budget. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, this leaves schools as the biggest unprotected budget under the Tory plans.

"That means immediate cuts of £1.7 billion to the schools budget if the Tories win the election. As every school knows you cannot find immediate cuts on that scale without cutting the number of teachers and teaching assistants.

"The Conservative proposals for North Bristol add up to disaster for Brightstowe, Henbury, St Bedes, Orchard and Fairfield which would feel the impact of unfair Tory cuts. And this is before the two new schools promised by the Tories, which parents must be told could only be paid by even bigger Tory cuts to existing local schools."