Bully or not, picture of Brown's style of government is unappealing

Furthermore, Britain's most senior mandarin had not even given Mr Brown any sort of "verbal warning" over his behaviour and Sir Gus, the Cabinet secretary, had therefore concluded there was no need for an inquiry into what has inevitably become known as "bully-gate".

Some might see this statement on behalf of Sir Gus as being suspiciously tardy in its arrival and they will, no doubt, be poring over it to see if it contains some Whitehall nuance which lets the Prime Minister and his most senior public servant off the hook.

But given the still silky Sir Humphrey-like ways of civil servants, it was always hard to envisage Sir Gus giving Mr Brown some kind of verbal warning, and unless new evidence emerges – and No10 must be praying that it does not – we have now to accept that the issue of bullying and intimidation was not raised by him with the Prime Minister.

But although this statement appears to cast doubt on the specific claims about Mr Brown's behaviour made in journalist Andrew Rawnsley's book, the more general issue of the character and temperament of the Prime Minister remains.

For in rushing to his defence over the past two days, many of his friends and confidants have had to concede that Mr Brown is far from perfect. They readily admit that he can lose his temper, that he can be intolerant of those who do not live up to the standards he expects and that he can be brusque to the point of brutish rudeness.

In short, even if we accept that the allegations made against Mr Brown are untrue, the picture which emerges of his style of government is not an appealing one, and it is this which will continue to provide an unwelcome backdrop to Labour's run-up to the general election.

The question for the voters is whether Mr Brown's behaviour will influence their choice at the ballot box and, in this, the outcome is far from clear. It may be, for example, that the electorate quite like the idea of a strong-willed, even headstrong, leader.

And what is the alternative? David Cameron has called for an inquiry into the alleged bullying at No10, but it is not clear exactly what the Tory leader means by this, and his approach looks less like a principled concern for staff who may soon be working for him than crude political calculation.

As to the contrast, we know little of the way Mr Cameron conducts his politics, though some commentators who knew him when he was a ministerial aide are not convinced that he was a man who could always be trusted.

Which brings matters back to the central issue of 'bully-gate'. Many will find Mr Brown's demeanour not to their liking and this affair, following all the other political setbacks, has damaged him further. As it stands, though, this does not look like the killer blow to Mr Brown. That remains the state of the economy.