GORDON BROWN’S efforts to distance himself from a culture of vicious briefing by his inner circle were derailed yesterday when three former Blairite ministers claimed they had been victims of sustained slander, and joined the Tories in calling for a shakeup of Downing Street.
Some ministers suggested that unless Mr Brown did something further to clean up his act in the next 24 hours he would face strong criticism at a cabinet meeting in Glasgow tomorrow.
One former minister, Frank Field, even reopened the question of Mr Brown’s leadership, saying the party would have “a last chance” to look at the verdict of the country after the European elections in June. He claimed Mr Brown had a dual personality, including “a dark side”.
Number 10 said yesterday that the prime minister was furious with his former political aide Damian MacBride for sending an email setting out how leading Conservatives, including David Cameron and the wife of George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, could be smeared.
Downing Street also admitted to “huge frustration” that Mr Brown’s agenda of fighting the recession is being overshadowed by a controversy that has been raging for five days.
Derek Draper, the Labour adviser who was corresponding with Mr McBride over suggestions about how to smear leading Tories, said he was considering quitting his post on the website Labourlist.
The row took a fresh twist when former ministers broke cover to give personal testimony of how they had been attacked by what they claimed were licensed briefings.
Alan Milburn said it was clear that “for years it has been members of the Labour party who have been on the receiving end of vicious briefing campaigns”.
“It is very, very important in my view that, as a consequence of the events of these last few days, that we end this sort of approach to politics, which demeans politics, is completely out of kilter with the culture of Labour politics – and that we end it once and for all. It is morally unacceptable and it has inflicted huge damage on the Labour Party and the Labour government.”
Stephen Byers, the former industry secretary, added: “I have been the victim of McBride’s aggressive and hostile media briefing on a number of occasions. If there remain people close to the prime minister who are thinking of fighting the forthcoming general election in a personal and dirty way, they should go and go now.”
Frank Field, a former welfare minister, said the party was staring into the abyss. “Harold Wilson asserted that the Labour party was a moral crusade or it was nothing. The McBride affair has left Labour members looking at nothing. That is the reality check that McBride has wrought on the party.
“Mr McBride thought he was doing his master’s bidding – he wouldn’t have done it otherwise.
“There are two sides to the prime minister’s character – there is this very civilised, generous, informed side, and there is this other side which is about controlling people.”
He called for former home secretary Charles Clarke to be brought into Number 10.
Matthew Taylor, the former director of strategy at Number 10, said he was “the subject of a nasty smear allegedly circulated by Damian McBride”. Writing on his blog, he added: “I’m not sure whether Brown’s bad side is that much worse than anyone else’s but it feels so because of his carefully cultivated image as a man of unblemished highmindedness.”
Behind the criticism is a wider frustration among senior Labour figures at the absence of a clear Labour programme, something that is likely to be raised at the cabinet meeting.
The energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, defended Mr Brown yesterday, saying the prime minister did not have a "dark side" and that he "came into politics for the right reason". Mr Miliband added: "He's not someone who thinks that the politics of innuendo is how you win elections." – ( Guardian service)