tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8335978802715935793.post4104561765327449775..comments2023-10-11T07:21:59.441-07:00Comments on SIROP/CDU/Alliance/MRD/DP/SNM combined exile return program 1987: With the death of Archduchess Regina von Habsburg an important era of Europe is dyinghttp://ioiss.blogspot.com/http://www.blogger.com/profile/12827646743934274873noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8335978802715935793.post-38095570866901660032010-02-25T05:12:41.421-08:002010-02-25T05:12:41.421-08:00We Trust the space will be big enough:
Brown to B...We Trust the space will be big enough:<br /><br />Brown to Blair: 'You ruined my life'<br />* Brown 'Shouted At Blair He'd Ruined His Life'<br /><br />Gordon Brown repeatedly shouted at Tony Blair that he had ruined his life in their final confrontation before the handover of power, according to new details of Andrew Rawnsley's book.<br /><br />The book, which is being serialised by the Observer, has already caused a major political row this week after allegations that Mr Brown bullied staff put Labour on the back foot throughout the week.<br /><br />Today's new revelations suggest that the prime minister demanded his predecessor stepped down and ensured there was no leadership contest during a volatile two-hour meeting between the two men in late 2006.<br /><br />The meeting took place as a letter was being circulated among backbenchers calling on Mr Blair to step down.<br /><br />"Who do you think is better than me?" Mr Rawnsley quotes Mr Brown as saying.<br /><br />"Do you think there is anyone who is better than me?"<br /><br />John Reid is then branded too right-wing, Alan Johnson too lightweight and David Miliband – then the most popular Blairite alternative to Mr Brown - too young.<br /><br />"He [Brown] kept shouting at me that I'd ruined his life," Mr Blair allegedly told close allies after the meeting.<br /><br />In another section, Mr Rawnsley recited a conversation Mr Brown had with Mr Blair on the phone when the prime minister was staying in Balmoral. The conversation followed a piece written by long-term Blair ally Alan Milburn saying the prime minister had a right to stay in Downing Street.<br /><br />"The chancellor's fury was titanically demented even by his standards," Mr Rawnsley writes.<br /><br />"'You put f***ing Milburn up to it,' Brown raged down the phone. 'This is factionalism! This is Trotskyism! It's f***ing Trotskyism!' Blair was nonplussed. He had not even seen the article.<br /><br />"After the call, he then read it and phoned Milburn to say it was excellent. They laughed about Brown's hysterical reaction."<br /><br />The new revelations will increase speculation about Mr Brown psychological temperament.<br /><br />The bullying row failed to make a dent in Labour's poll rating, indicating either that the public believe a prime minister should be strong-minded and tough or they already had a low opinion of Mr Brown.<br /><br />But some Westminster observers have seized on the revelations as proof Mr Brown is not psychologically fit to deal with the pressures at No 10.<br /><br />Downing Street categorically denied the allegations in the first section of Mr Rawnsley's book.http://ioiss.blogspot.com/https://www.blogger.com/profile/12827646743934274873noreply@blogger.com