Told you it was misdirection

Looks like Balls has been caught trying to divert attention from the failings of Labour's education system to provide parents with the education they would like for their children.

My assumption is that this was part of a smoke screen for the budget ( I'm sure this is where Balls' mind was at that time with his weird growth theories ).

The press association is reporting the following:

Children's Secretary Ed Balls was accused of trying to "bury bad news" of figures that showed nearly a fifth of pupils were denied a place at their preferred secondary school this year.

He released the figures at the same time as making a high-profile statement that "a significant minority" of schools were breaking the law, with some charging parents "many hundreds of pounds" for what should be a free education.

Mr Balls' claims - based on unverified research - made headlines across national and regional media but the official admissions figures received less coverage.

The statistics watchdog has now written to civil servants in Mr Balls' department and stressed that the release of official figures should be "seen to be independent from policy comment" as a matter of "public trust". Full article here

Given that Cameron's slap down of 'childish' Balls is quickly becoming the favourite moment of the budget - even amongst Labour - I think Balls should be worried. There's a lot of us out to get him ;-)