In the Guardian earlier this year, Tony Blair was admitting that the Sure Start scheme for under-fives has failed. He went on to say that the Government 'has not yet found a way of bringing the shut-out into mainstream society.'
I would say that was a gloomy generalisation, although presumably it is based on a particular reading of the official evaluation. But it may be as questionable a statement as the Government's denial of reality when continually telling us that that the health service is in good shape. It's an interesting strategy - to be downbeat about a project that set out to offer services to the most disadvantaged in society, aimed at improving developmental outcomes for young children who have no voice of their own, and to be upbeat about another service that affects us all. Small children do not vote, and the population within Sure Start areas generally has a low turnout at election times.
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