It might be too early to call, but the rather bold education white paper, published this week, looks like giving Labour a surprise lead in the political battle over public service reform.

Only a week ago, the idea of a fresh vision from Labour on any policy area was being belittled by a largely cynical commentariat, who have got into the habit of seeing everything Brown does as the last gasp of a desperate beast.
At the same time, an increasingly jumpy Opposition had got the bit between its teeth on arguably unrealisable pledges to increase spending, particularly on popular issues such as social housing and schools.

Read the rest of Melissa’s latest Public Finance piece on the government’s Education White Paper here.