Gordon Brown repeatedly yelled at Tony Blair "you ruined my life" in a final row before the former was made Prime Minister, it was claimed last night.
The then chancellor also accused Mr Blair of a "Trotskyist plot" in attempting to stop him from getting into No 10, according to a book by the journalist Andrew Rawnsley.
Mr Brown"s infamous temper flared during a two-hour meeting with Mr Blair in September 2006.
He insisted that Mr Blair give him a resignation date and ensure that no other candidate stood for leader - a promise he said he could not deliver.
Row: Gordon Brown (L) is said to have screamed at then Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) during a phonecall in 2006, pictured at the party conference the same year
The new revelations about the Prime Minister"s temper came after he wasforced to deny unleashing the "forces of hell" on Alistair Darling and again deny being a bully. More...QUENTIN LETTS: Scrunched up so tight, they must have smelt the lingering tang of each other"s shaving foamMAIL COMMENT: Darling"s disloyalty offers Britain hopeTories rake in twice as much in donations as Labour as parties build up "war chests" for electionCut the debt now or face disaster, warns George OsborneImmigration minister admits his children have "suffered" because of migrationCameron"s class struggle: How the Tory leader came bottom in his prep school report
According to Rawnsley, Mr Brown also interrupted the Prime Minister"s stay with the Queen at Balmoral.
His fury was "titanically demented", and Mr Brown raged that Blairite former health secretary Alan Milburn had written an article setting out the case for Mr Blair to stay.
"You put ******* Milburn up to it," Mr Brown told Mr Blair down the phone. "This is factionalism! This is Trotskyism! It"s ******* Trotskyism!"
A relaxed Mr Blair had not even read the article but he later phoned Mr Milburn to say it was excellent.
Rictus grin: Gordon Brown leaving Downing Street before PMQs
The men laughed about Mr Brown"s reaction, it was reported. The disclosure will raise questions over Mr Brown"s claims he always wanted a proper contest for the top job.
Ed Balls, the Children"s Secretary and close confidante of Mr Brown, was named as the driving force during the 2006 coup.
In a final showdown, Mr Brown demanded of Mr Blair: "Who do you think is better than me? Do you think there is anyone who is better than me?"
Fellow Scot John Reid was deemed "far too Right-wing", Alan Johnson was "a lightweight" and David Miliband was dismissed as much too young.
Mr Blair later told close allies: "He [Brown] kept shouting at me that I"d ruined his life."
The latest revelations emerged after the Prime Minister was forced to deny knowing anything about Alistair Darling"s extraordinary claim that the "forces of hell" were unleashed on him by No 10.
He claimed there was a "family" atmosphere insideDowning Street as the Tories said it was clear the two men at the topof the Government were at war.
Mr Darling"s declaration fuelled speculation that he is again at odds with Mr Brown over the pre-election Budget.
The Chancellor is determined to flesh out details of a "credible"medium-term plan to rein in the spiralling budget deficit and calmjittery financial markets, while the Prime Minister wants to focus onprotecting spending on frontline public services, according toGovernment sources.
MPs saw Mr Darling"s claim that Downing Street had subjectedhim to vicious anonymous criticism as an assertion of independenceahead of the Budget.
Show of unity: Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling side by side at PMQs yesterday
Clashes: David Cameron taunted GordonBrown over his denial he was involved in a briefings against theChancellor after he was candid about the recession
Differences between Mr Brown and Mr Darling emerged at theweekend in extracts from Andrew Rawnsley"s book The End Of The Party.
It claimed that the Chancellor had warned the Prime Minister: "Youare not going to make me Philip Snowden" - a reference to Labour"sfirst Chancellor, whose stint in the Treasury in the 1920s and 1930s isregarded as one of the worst in history.
Rawnsley claims that a furious Mr Brown phoned Mr Darling in 2008ordering him to back down after he gave an interview in which he issueda gloomy forecast that the recession would be the worst for 60 years.
Anonymous allies of Mr Brown were subsequently quoted in newspapers suggesting Mr Darling was likely to be sacked.
Referring to this in an interview with Sky News on Tuesday night, MrDarling said: "The forces of hell were unleashed. I do not know why thebriefers did what they did."
His remarks intensified the focus on techniques employed by MrBrown"s circle of advisers including former political spokesmen CharlieWhelan and Damian McBride.
Allies insisted his intervention was not premeditated, but said he would not withdraw his allegations.
"He"s not going to deny anything ever happened," said onesympathetic MP. "He is a man of great integrity and he won"t obfuscatein that way."
Henchmen: MrBrown"s former Treasury spin doctor Charlie Whelan and his disgracedex-Downing Street press spokesman Damian McBride
Mr Darling and Mr Brown put on a show of unity in the Commons yesterday following a tense face-to-face meeting in Number Ten.
COUNTRY OR PARTY: THE CHANCELLOR"S DILEMMASeveralLabour Chancellors have faced the choice of country or party - whetherto tackle economic crisis or bring in a popular pre-election Budget.Here we assess them:
PHILIP SNOWDEN: In 1929, Snowden was themain block to radical reform to tackle the Great Depression and thegovernment eventually collapsed in recriminations.
SIRSTAFFORD CRIPPS: In 1947, facing a post-war crisis, Cripps took theunpopular decision to increase taxation, force down consumption anddevalue the pound.
HUGH GAITSKELL: In 1951, he introduced hugely unpopular charges for NHS prescriptions.
ROYJENKINS: He hesitated to reduce taxes and cut spending. Labour"s defeatin the 1970 election was ascribed to bad trade figures that werereleased beforehand.
DENIS HEALEY: Had to seek a bailoutfrom the International Monetary Fund. His mid-Seventies Budgets imposeddeep cuts in public spending, leading to the strikes in the 1978 Winterof Discontent. His final Budget before the 1979 election was a"caretaker" package that was agreed with the Conservatives.
And in an interview with GMTV, the Prime Minister flatly deniedthat he was to blame for undermining the Chancellor. "I would neverinstruct anybody to do anything other than support my Chancellor," hesaid.
"I was never part of anything to do with this. Alistair has been afriend of mine for 20 years. We have worked together all this time andwe have huge mutual respect."
Mr Brown again rejected bullying allegations against him, butadmitted he was a "hard taskmaster" and suggested he would nototherwise have "solved" the global recession.
"I get angry sometimes -doesn"t everybody?" he said. "I get impatient, I am driven.
"Actually, we work in an open-plan office, we are a sort of familyin Downing Street and like every family there are issues that come fromtime to time, but we have got a great working environment and we getthings done."
At Prime Minister"s Questions, Tory leader David Cameron said:"Six weeks before an election with a record budget deficit at the endof a long recession, I want to ask why the Prime Minister andChancellor are at war with each other?"
Mr Brown and Mr Darling sat so close to one another andwhispered so intently as Mr Cameron spoke that the Tory leader joked:"Any closer, they"ll start kissing!"
The Prime Minister has likened his woes to those of England manager Fabio Capello, saying the football boss "would sympathise with me".
He indicated that he has as much trouble controlling his party as the England manager has with wayward stars John Terry and Ashley Cole.
In an interview with Shortlist magazine, the Prime Minister likened himself to Capello when asked about his own "internal party issues".
"I think maybe Fabio Capello would sympathise with me," he said. "Bill Shankly, when he was manager of Liverpool said: I dont drop people, I just make changes. Theres something in that. Youve got make decisions that are best for the team.
He told the title of his love for football and said he had always wanted to be a manager in the sport. had always wanted to be a football manager.
"Its a great idea, isnt it, to be able to manage people and get a great team. But I cant do that, so Ive got shares in Raith Rovers.
BROWN VS CAPELLO - THE TALE OF THE TAPE GORDON BROWNBorn: Giffnock, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Age: 59
Significant other: wife, ex-PR consultant Sarah ("We"re a modern love story")
Length of service: Almost three long years as PM despite three attempted coups, 10 as Chancellor, MP since 1983
Pay packet: 194,250
Language: Scottish brogue and bitter, four-letter rants behind closed doors (allegedly)
Most troublesome teammate: Once Tony Blair, now an increasingly-vocal Alistair Darling
Most likely to say: Vote for me, I saved the economy
Least likely to say: Unleash the forces of hell? I do that every day
Hopes for 2010: Election victory against the odds for Labour, clinging on at No Ten
Past glories: Steering the UK through the financial crisis
Career lowlights: Too many to list them all - as PM, top billing goes to the 2007 election that never was and more recently his excruciating Piers Morgan interview where he was asked if he joined the Mile High club. Other notable mentions - the 10p tax row and, before he took over at No 10, his bitter years of rivalry with Blair
Hinterland: football (he has shares in Raith Rovers), watching The X Factor and Britain"s Got Talent, recently spotted out running in Hyde Park
FABIO CAPELLOBorn: San Canzian, d"Isonzo, Italy
Age: 63
Significant other: wife Laura ("Laura is my life, my mirror")
Length of service: Two years and counting as England manager after starting in January 2008
Pay packet: 6million-a-year
Language: Italian, almost non-existent English when he moved here but improving gradatamente
Most troublesome teammate: Lothario John Terry, recently stripping of the captaincy over his off-the-field antics
Most likely to say: We practised penalties so much in the run-up to the World Cup, I can"t believe we didn"t score any in our quarter-final defeat to Portugal/Brazil/Spain/New Zealand* (*delete as applicable)
Least likely to say: I look forward to seeing all your wives and girlfriends at our training base in South Africa - but not as much as John Terry does
Hopes for 2010: Heal rifts in England dressing room, World Cup glory in South Africa
Past glories: League titles in Milan, Rome, Turin and Madrid
Career lowlights: Juventus being stripped of the 2005 and 2006 titles because of the club"s involvement in a match-fixing scandal
Hinterland: Fine art, opera and classical music, international jet-setting
SIR GUS: I TOLD PM TO PRAISE STAFFSir Gus O"Donnell has admitted telling Gordon Brown he would"get the best" out of his staff by congratulating them for good work.
But the Cabinet Secretary denied having warned the Prime Minister to stop bullying.
Sir Gus, the top civil servant, has been under increasing pressure over the allegations which have engulfed Downing Street.
No comments:
Post a Comment