' The real villain of the period was not McBride. He was just the vicious little monkey. The organ grinder was Gordon Brown, the man who prated about his "moral compass" while allowing his smear merchant to trash the characters of colleagues. In the end, the reputation it most fouled was his own. Which is a sort of justice.'

I wish I could write as well as Andrew Rawnsley.

'It was Brown who created and presided over the brutish, treacherous, gangland culture in which his hitman operated. Even McBride laughs at his former capo's "comically irrational outbursts" and propensity to "unleash a tremendous volley of abuse, usually just a stream of unconnected swear words". Then there is Brown's default response to things going wrong – which is to blame someone else. "Blair!", roars Brown about a self-inflicted blunder. "Blair made me give him the figures. Why has he done this to me?"

The real villain of the period was not McBride. He was just the vicious little monkey. The organ grinder was Gordon Brown, the man who prated about his "moral compass" while allowing his smear merchant to trash the characters of colleagues. In the end, the reputation it most fouled was his own.

Which is a sort of justice.'

More here http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/26/power-trip-damian-mcbride-review?CMP=twt_gu

“Remember: The Chancellor is mad.”

According to The Express:

"Mr Rawnsley also revealed senior Cabinet colleagues believed Mr Brown was mentally unstable. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, is said to have told Mr Blair to put up a sign saying: “Remember: The Chancellor is mad.”

And he hints at the origin of a comment that caused uproar in 1998, when a “secret No10 source” said Mr Brown was “psychologically flawed”.

Spin doctor Alistair Campbell had “always publicly denied it was he who called Brown psychologically flawed”, wrote Mr Rawnsley, adding: “He had to maintain this line to remain in his job.” Mr Blair, he said, was “entirely in agreement with the assessment. Blair told a friend that ‘psychological flaws’ was not the half of it”."

Is this true, did Lord Mandelson really suggest that Tony Blair put up a sign saying “Remember: The Chancellor is mad.”? If he did then why is he keeping this man in his position of Prime Minister? If he did not suggest that then I presume he will be suing Andrew Rawnsley for misrepresentation, and if this is the case I will gladly delete this post.

Is this man the Number 10 'Deep Throat'?

The Telegraph report that:

"Jeremy Heywood, the senior civil servant in Gordon Brown’s office, dined with Andrew Rawnsley, the author whose book sparked the bullying allegations against the Prime Minister, it can be disclosed.

Mr Heywood, the permanent secretary in 10 Downing Street, had dinner with the political writer in September.

The dinner emerged after Mr Brown’s allies questioned the source of Mr Rawnsley’s claim that Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, privately warned Mr Brown about his treatment of staff.

Sir Gus is also facing questions about his contacts with Mr Rawnsley. The Observer journalist has said he based his claim on information from “senior serving civil servants” but refused to identify them by name.

Mr Heywood declared a dinner with Mr Rawnsley under civil service rules on hospitality received by senior officials.

The event, dated as 17th September 2009, is listed in Mr Heywood’s declaration of expenses and hospitality for the third quarter of last year. "

Interesting, very interesting.

Jack Straw met with anti-Brown plotters

I am so shocked at The Mail story that

"Jack Straw was forced yesterday to admit having met MPs plotting to oust Gordon Brown amid damaging claims that he told colleagues the Prime Minister 'had to go'.

The Justice Secretary, who ran Mr Brown's leadership campaign in 2007, was accused of giving up on him by the middle of 2008 and of sounding out MPs about his own chances of seizing the top job.

According to Andrew Rawnsley's book, the veteran Cabinet minister held a series of talks with rebels planning a putsch against Mr Brown.

In a statement, 63-year- old Mr Straw said he was surprised that the claims had not been put to him in advance, given their seriousness, but admitted holding meetings with colleagues trying to force Mr Brown out."

Claims that Jack Straw has been devious and plotting; I am shocked. However I was also amused that Jack Straw claimed that

"In this period, unsurprisingly, a number of people came to me to talk about their concerns for the party... Some of these people wished to see a change of leadership. They have not made a secret of this, then or now. But it is untrue that I was " plotting to oust Gordon Brown" as The Observer has alleged.

So Jack Straw met Charles Clarke and Frank Field but wasn't canvassing for votes; well it's a possibility I suppose. However Andrew Rawnsley claims that

"over lunch with Charles Clarke, a long-standing critic of the Prime Minister, Mr Straw is alleged to have declared that Mr Brown 'had to go' and promised that 'something will be done'.

The Justice Secretary also gave a strong indication to former welfare minister Frank Field, another thorn in Mr Brown's side, that the Cabinet was preparing a coup.

The book adds that, in one private meeting, Mr Straw spent much of the time 'trying to find out whether Field would back him for the top job'."

Who to believe; Jack Straw or Andrew Rawnsley?

So who is the liar?

Andrew Rawnsley claims that staff at Number 10 were intimidated by outbursts from Gordon Brown. From today's Observer -

"..Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary, became so alarmed by the prime minister’s behaviour that he launched his own investigations when he received reports of Brown’s bullying of staff. O’Donnell then gave the prime minister a stern “pep talk” and ordered him to change his behaviour. “This is no way to get things done,” he told Brown. The revelation that the prime minister’s behaviour was so extreme that it triggered a warning from Whitehall’s most powerful official will shock the political world and is bound to lead to claims from his opponents that he is not fit for another five years in office as a general election draws near."

The PM's spokesman said the claim in a book by the Observer's chief political commentator Andrew Rawnsley were "without foundation" and "malicious".

Labour MP Stephen Pound confirms that Gus O'Donnell warned Gordon Brown about his behaviour.


Not all of these people can be telling the truth, at least one must be lying; but who?


I see that Iain Dale has a handy list of 14 alleged examples of Gordon Brown temper tantrums. As Iain Dale asks

"Can they all be wrong? And if they're not, how on earth did the Labour Party allow this man to become PM?"