British prime minister Gordon Brown apologised today for offensive emails about top opposition figures sent by one of his most influential aides, as the Labour government tried to refocus attention on next week's budget.
Emails containing unfounded smears about Conservative leader David Cameron and his economics spokesman George Osborne sent by Mr Brown's close aide Damian McBride to a Labour campaigner were made public by a political blogger last week.
The smears provoked outrage for their lurid nature but also because Mr Brown promised to end political spin and so-called "black arts" when he assumed power from Tony Blair in 2007.
Mr McBride, feared and respected in equal measure by all parties as one of Mr Brown's most canny and resilient enforcers, resigned over the Easter weekend.
"I'm sorry about what happened," Mr Brown said during an appearence in Glasgow in Scotland.
"When I saw this first I was horrified, I was shocked and I was very angry indeed. The person who was responsible went immediately." "I take full responsibility for what happened - now we've got to get to the business of getting this country through the most difficult times."
The scandal has threatened to overshadow Mr Brown's lauded achievements at the London G20 summit and next week's budget, which is already shaping up to be one of the most gloomy in decades given an economic slump and soaring public debt.
Mr Brown must call an election by mid-2010 with the Conservatives maintaining a commanding lead in opinion polls.
Reuters