BRITAIN: Downing Street has been accused of trying to "eviscerate" a new book detailing the sometimes explosive relationship between Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown writes Frank Millar
And the book - by Mr Blair's former economics adviser Derek Scott - risks reopening questions about the Labour leadership ahead of two difficult by-elections on July 15th and what could still prove a troublesome party conference for Mr Blair in the autumn.
For just as Mr Blair appears to be having some success in shifting the political focus back to a domestic agenda long-overshadowed by the war in Iraq, the promise of a sensational and authoritative account of life inside Number 10 has returned the spotlight on the famous turf wars between Mr Blair and the next-door-neighbour who longs to take his place.
Number 10 has been attempting to calm troubled waters since the revelation in the Sunday Telegraph that the government was attempting to censor Mr Scott's book, Off Whitehall. In it Mr Scott - who was Mr Blair's chief economics adviser from 1997 until last December - apparently details the "furious rows" between prime minister and chancellor over key policy issues such as Europe and the euro, and speaks of the state of "unbearable tension" between the two men before Budget and major public spending announcements.
On Monday Number 10 distanced itself from Mr Scott's book, describing it as "totally unauthorised" and written "to make money and to cause trouble and division".
The assurance that it would not succeed in doing so, however, came only after an extraordinary statement from the chancellor's office.
The chancellor's spokesman warned: "This deliberate peddling of lies and distortions about Europe, tax and public spending and the management of public finances is designed and orchestrated to put the Treasury in a bad light and will not be tolerated."
However Mr Brown's tolerance levels were being tested afresh yesterday when publisher Iradj Bagherzade dismissed Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull's demand for "extensive changes" to the book as "pretty unreasonable" on BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.