Brown 'exploded' when Blair refused to quit

Published on Saturday 27 February 2010 23:33

GORDON Brown exploded with rage when Tony Blair backtracked on a pledge to stand down as prime minister after the Iraq war, it was claimed in a new book last night.

Brown was said to have sworn at Blair like a "belligerent teenager" after he learned he would not be leaving No 10 in the summer of 2004.

The allegation is contained in the latest instalment of The End Of The Party by political journalist Andrew Rawnsley. It describes the period in 2003 following the invasion of Iraq as Blair sank into despair when the country descended into bloodshed and chaos.

In November 2003, at a dinner with Brown, who was then chancellor, and deputy prime minister John Prescott, Blair was said to have made clear that he intended to step down.

However, within months Blair had changed his mind, encouraged by his wife, Cherie, and closest political allies.

Among those urging him to stay was said to be Peter (now Lord) Mandelson. "Come on. Buck up. Buck up," he was quoted as telling Blair. "Think of what you have to do. Think of what you've got to achieve. You're the best politician in this country by a mile."

Brown was said to have been stunned. A senior aide to Brown is quoted as saying: "It all went suspiciously silent. Tony couldn't bring himself to tell Gordon directly."

A member of Blair's "inner circle" described seeing a meeting in No 10 between the two men, saying: "Gordon was just losing it. He was behaving like a belligerent teenager. Just standing in the office shouting: 'When are you going to f****** go?'"

Some of Brown's supporters, including Ed Miliband, now Climate Change Secretary, were said to have regularly stormed round to No 10 to demand to know why Blair had not already packed his bags.

Yesterday on the unofficial campaign trail in Swansea, Brown focused on attacking the Conservatives' new "Vote for Change" slogan, claiming a Tory government would "short-change" families.

In defiant mood, the Prime Minister joked he had been accused of everything short of killing Archie Mitchell in EastEnders. "I promise, I didn't even lay a finger on him," Brown said, before moving on to criticise David Cameron's Conservatives.

At the Welsh Labour conference Brown defended the government's record on tackling the recession, saying it had made the right decision to take control of failing banks and to nationalise Northern Rock.

Brown was speaking the day after improved growth figures were published and polls suggested the allegations made in Rawnsley's book had not proved too damaging for Labour.