Tony Blair: Gordon Brown tried to blackmail me (well!!!!-few problems are universal).

Tony Blair: Gordon Brown tried to blackmail me

(EVEN FEW PROBLEMS ARE UNIVERSAL.


The former prime minister’s memoir discloses that a “maddening” Mr Brown effectively blackmailed him while he was in No 10. He suspects the then chancellor of orchestrating the investigation into the cash-for-honours scandal.


The pressure on Mr Blair to step aside became so great that he admits he may have become reliant on alcohol as he faced coup attempts from Mr Brown’s supporters. He discloses that he began drinking every day and needed the “support” that alcohol provided.


The memoir povides the first definitive account of the relationship between the two men which dogged the Labour government from 1997.


The former prime minister discloses that some of his biggest mistakes in office were his failure to predict and tackle the boom in asylum seekers and to address the emerging “underclass”.

He discloses his “anguish” over the Iraq war and admits that he failed to predict the “nightmare” in the aftermath of the conflict. But he insists going to war was correct and says he will devote the rest of his life to making amends.


In the postscript, Mr Blair squarely lays the blame for Labour’s landslide general election defeat earlier this year on his successor’s change in strategy.


He asks himself why Labour lost, and replies: “The response, I fear, is obvious. It won as New Labour. It lost by ceasing to be that.”


Mr Blair adds that Mr Brown was not a politician able to handle modern politics, which dissects personality and was uncomfortable in the role of average citizen.


He adds that, had Mr Brown continued New Labour politics, victory would have been possible.


Mr Blair says that his successor failed to make political capital out of the economic crisis. He describes the initial bank bail-out plan as “excellent”.


However, later decisions to increase taxes and abandon Labour reforms proved fatal at the ballot box. He says that “competitive” taxes on income should have been maintained and other levies, such as VAT, raised instead.


Mr Blair finishes the book by urging Labour members not to “slide” or “veer” to the Left now. Ed Miliband and other leadership candidates have been accused of plotting such a move if they win the contest in which voting starts on Wednesday.


“If we take this path, the next defeat will be even more stinging,” Mr Blair warns.


The book also reveals:

* How within days of the cash-for-honours scandal erupting in 2006 he had a private meeting with Mr Brown to discuss radical reforms to pensions drawn up by Lord Turner.

Mr Brown threatened to ensure there was an official Labour investigation in to the scandal unless Mr Blair shelved the plans. The prime minister refused and within two hours, the then Labour Party treasurer gave a television interview which led to the threatened investigation.

Mr Blair says the damage to the party’s popularity and his own was immense.

* Mr Blair’s growing concerns over his relationship with alcohol. He describes how he used to drink a whisky or gin and tonic before his evening meal, then have several glasses of wine. He said he became aware it was “becoming a support”.

Mr Blair writes that while the young drink but go without for days at a time, “as time goes on, it easily becomes a daily habit that our body needs to relax. To compensate for pressure. To stimulate. To make a boring evening bearable.”

* That Mr Brown put “relentless personal pressure” on him. Mr Blair repeatedly considered sacking his chancellor but failed to find anyone to replace Mr Brown.

He eventually concluded that Mr Brown was better “inside and constrained” than “outside and let loose”.

* He still feels “anguish” about the Iraq War and says that he had never guessed “the nightmare” that would unfold after he took the decision to commit British troops to the American-led invasion.

Mr Blair also indicates that he is still haunted by his actions, and vows to try to “redeem” something from the tragedy. He says he will dedicate “a large part of the life left to me,” to working for peace in the region.

He also discloses how American hawks, particularly Dick Cheney, the then US vice-president, were apparently keen to invade other countries in the Middle East, including Syria.

* The former prime minister’s regrets. He says that he and Jack Straw, the then home secretary, were not prepared for the explosion in asylum claims, “which tripled, almost quadrupled” within three years of Labour gaining power. He describes the system as being “broken, incompetent” and not equipped for the modern world.

When leaving office, he also expresses regret over not doing more to tackle the emerging underclass.

* In May 2007, just before Mr Blair stood down, he was approached by David Miliband, the then foreign secretary, who asked whether he should challenge Mr Brown for the Labour leadership.

“What would happen if I went for it?” Mr Miliband asked. “You could win, I think,” Mr Blair replied.

The former prime minister says he thought ambiguities in Mr Brown’s views would emerge during a leadership contest. But Mr Miliband decided not to run.

The memoir also discloses Mr Blair’s private thoughts about some of the figures closest to him in his administration and bizarre encounters with members of the Royal family and foreign leaders.

He describes Alastair Campbell, his spin doctor, as a type of “mad man”. He says Mr Campbell was indispensable in the first few months of government but was soon out of control.

He was “on the edge of a cliff” by the time he resigned in 2003. However, Mr Blair describes the spin doctor as an “almost an alter ego”.

He also muses over the affairs that Bill Clinton and John Prescott were exposed as having during his time in office. Mr Prescott’s major mistake was to cheat with someone he worked with, Mr Blair says.

George W Bush is praised for his intelligence.

An entire chapter is devoted to the death of Princess Diana within months of his election. He says that both he and the princess were “manipulators”.

He describes being ill-at-ease with the Queen in the days immediately afterwards and finding her somewhat “haughty”.


Telegraph