Education Secretary Michael Gove has defended his ambition to fast-track the Academies Bill through parliament.

Speaking on the Today programme he said there was "ample time" for the bill to receive proper scrutiny.

He accepted that "rushed laws can be bad laws" but he argued that, as a "centrepiece of the election campaign", his party had a duty to push through the reform as quickly as possible.

"This was a manifesto commitment," he told Today presenter Sarah Montague.

"This was the culmination of an argument that we had been making for years beforehand."

He accused the Labour Party and the BBC of "processology" - focusing on the process of passing the bill, rather than the content of the reforms.

"More freedom for schools is a good thing," he said.

Earlier in the programme the shadow schools secretary Ed Balls accused the coalition of "running away from debate and scrutiny" over the measure, which seeks to allow more schools in England to opt out of local authority control.

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