Crabb's claims are "smears of smiling assassin" say Labour

Stephen Crabb is becoming a disingenuous, smiling assassin of the reputation of our Welsh schools and hospitals. Only a few weeks ago he called on his Cabinet colleagues to mind their language about Wales, lest they create a false and damaging impression of our country with their politically motivated attacks on the Welsh NHS. Yet today he himself declared Welsh schools as ‘worse than Eastern Europe’, in ignorance of the facts and in a naked attempt to score political points ahead of the election – no matter the damage done to Wales’ reputation abroad, nor the morale of our pupils and teachers at home.

In his speech, Mr Crabb recalls his own education – like mine and the First Minister’s - in a Welsh Comprehensive, but the prescription he hints at - for the failings he falsely describes - is for Wales to go down the route of scrapping comprehensive education and creating instead autonomous academies, as in England. He fails to point out, of course, that a higher proportion of these academies are failing than of their local authority run equivalents, but that will surprise no one here in Wales: we are used to Tory Ministers smiling sweetly as they smear.