Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove has scrapped 715 school building programmes in cuts slammed as "shameful". Mr Gove announced yesterday he would ditch Labour's Building Schools for the Future programme - a move that was expected.

And for the first time he published the full list of the school building programmes that would not go ahead. Shadow Education Secretary Ed Balls said it was a "tragedy" for teachers and pupils who would have benefited from facilities. He said : "Today is a black day for our country's schools."

Mr Balls added that Labour would fight to "save our new schools". He said Conservative and Liberal Democrats should hang their heads because of their "shameful" actions in ditching the plans. Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, was furious at the move.

She said: "Poor learning environments have a negative impact on the education of children and young people. "School buildings were woefully run down prior to Labour coming to power in 1997 and while much has been done to improve them there is still a lot more to do."

But Mr Gove said the building scheme was "bureaucratic and wasteful" and it was not value for money for the taxpayer.

He said: "Throughout it has been characterised by massive overspends, tragic delays, botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy."