Tough times ahead, admits Balls

Gordon Brown is today warned by one of his closest allies that life will get more difficult for the Government in the autumn.

In an interview with The Independent, Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary who work-ed closely with Mr Brown at the Treasury, admits: "It's going to get tougher beforeit gets easier. Higher gas and electricity bills will have an impact through the autumn and as you get closer to the winter this will become more of an issue."

He says that the Government's present woes stem from "a set of economic events that have not come together since the 1970s", and its own mistakes – singling out the 10p tax row as an obvious example.

Mr Balls, who is in the eye of a storm over the delay in publishing national curriculum test results for 11- and 14-year-olds this summer, again refused to apologise for the situation, but said: "We really regret what's happened."

In a statement to MPsyesterday, Mr Balls said it would be wrong for him to intervene – as delicate negotiations with ETS, the firm contracted to deliver the results, were taking place. He revealed that nearly one in four of the English test scripts for 14-year-olds had still not been marked.