CABINET minister Ed Balls has fought back in his battle with Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman over the appointment of a new Children's Commisioner.

Mr Sheerman has accused the Labour heavyweight and friend of Gordon Brown of being a "bully" in the row.

The rift started on Monday over Mr Balls’ decision to appoint former Dewsbury teacher Dr Maggie Atkinson despite the Commons Children’s, Schools and Families Committee refusal to endorse her as successor to Sir Al Aynsley-Green.

It was the first time a select committee had failed to approve a major public appointment since being given powers earlier this year to scrutinise candidates at pre-appointment hearings.

In an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, committee chairman Mr Sheerman, said it was "a bad day for parliamentary democracy".

He added: "Most of us know that Ed Balls is a bit of a bully and he likes his own way."

But yesterday Mr Balls insisted he had picked "the most independent candidate".

Speaking at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, he said: "She is not the candidate I would have picked if I wanted an easy life."

He said that he was, "confident" in his decision because of the, "wide spread acclaim" Dr Atkinson had received from children’s charities and other independent bodies working in child welfare.

"The committee has a veto I take very seriously. I did not think they made arguments to make me change my mind."

"The Conservative Party have been telling people that they want to get rid of the Children’s Commissioner entirely, I wasn’t going to let that get in the way of choosing a tough independent candidate."

In its report, the committee questioned the willingness of Dr Atkinson - who is currently Gateshead Council’s director of children’s services - to "assert the independence of the role" and to champion children’s rights.

Prominent Labour backbencher Richard Caborn yesterday said it was "unacceptable" for Mr Sheerman to use his position as a select committee chairman to undermine Dr Atkinson’s position.

And he called on the Huddersfield MP to make clear whether he intends to stand for election to the post of chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, as widely suspected in Westminster.

But Mr Sheerman rejected Mr Caborn’s criticism, insisting the committee was simply carrying out the role given to it by Gordon Brown to conduct pre-appointment hearings on major public posts. He said he would make a decision on whether to run for PLP chair "in due course".

In a letter to Mr Sheerman, former minister Mr Caborn said: "What I believe is unacceptable, as a past select committee chairman, is how you have used your position to deliver personalised attacks and undermine the professional standing of the new Children’s Commissioner.

"Also, that you continue to attack from a privileged position a Labour Government when so many loyal members are campaigning daily up and down the country to return it in the next election."

Mr Sheerman had indicated he was considering standing for PLP chairman, said Mr Caborn, adding: "It is time, for the sake of the Labour Party, to put up or shut up."

Mr Sheerman said: "No-one - and certainly not me - has made any personalised attack or any attempt to undermine the Children’s Commissioner. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"We were given by Gordon Brown when he first became Prime Minister, as his contribution to extending parliamentary democracy, the right to hold pre-appointment hearings. We did this honestly.

"We went out of our way to comment on the outstanding ability of the candidate, but at the end of the interview we didn’t think she was quite the right person for that particular job.

"We thought - because we had been led to believe this - that that would make a difference, but we now realise that all the select committees have been misled about the extent of the powers we have in these matters."

Mr Sheerman said Mr Caborn was wrongly mixing up the unconnected issues of the Commissioner’s appointment and the election of a PLP chair.

"The weakness of the PLP over recent months has been a great concern to me and to anyone who cares about the future of our party," he said.

"If I at any time make a decision to stand as chair, I will come to that decision in due course.

"At no time have I used my privileged position to attack the Labour Government. I would never do so. I will continue my campaign for a higher set of moral principles within our party, because that is the reason I joined the party and continue to care about its future."