British Prime Minister (PM) Gordon Brown insisted he had never hit anyone as media allegations that he had intimidated his staff overshadowed his pre-election “Operation Fightback.”
Brown admitted to a few solid tackles on the rugby pitch in his youth and throwing newspapers on the floor, but said any anger was largely directed at himself, as he gears up for the general election expected in May.
“If I get angry I get angry with myself,” the prime minister told Channel 4 television. “I throw the newspapers on the floor or something like that.”
“Let me just say, absolutely clearly, so that there is no misunderstanding about that: I have never, never hit anybody in my life,” Brown said.
The Observer newspaper published extracts from a book by its correspondent Andrew Rawnsley, which contained allegations about Brown’s conduct in his 10 Downing Street office.
SWEARING
It alleged there had been a string of incidents, such as shouting and swearing at colleagues and thumping car seats, which had left staff shaken.
The book said Britain’s top civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell, told Brown to change his behavior after reports that his fiery outbursts had frightened staff.
He reportedly told Brown: “This is no way to get things done.”
FRIGHTENED CLERKS
O’Donnell felt the need “to calm down frightened duty clerks, badly treated phone operators and other bruised staff” and tell them “don’t take it personally,” the Observer reported.
However, a spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: “It is categorically not the case that the Cabinet secretary asked for an investigation of the PM’s treatment of Number 10 staff.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “These malicious allegations are totally without foundation and have never been put to Number 10.”
The Sunday Times newspaper, meanwhile, reported that a recent Brown television appearance, in which he showed his softer side, had helped bridge the gap in the polls.
A YouGov survey for the broadsheet put the Conservative lead at its lowest for more than a year — and small enough to deny the center-right party an overall majority.
Labour’s rating was up two points on last month to 33 percent, with the Conservatives down one at 39 percent. The Liberal Democrats were down one at 17 percent.
JOHN MAJOR
Elsewhere, former Conservative prime minister John Major made a rare public attack, accusing Brown’s government of having “failed spectacularly.”
Writing in the Mail yesterday, he said Labour inherited “the most stable and competitive economy in Europe” in 1997, but “over 13 wasted years, our finances have been squandered.”
On Saturday, Brown launched “Operation Fightback,” saying that while he was “not perfect,” voters should think twice before ousting him.
Labour announced its campaign slogan would be “A Future Fair For All.”
Although official election campaigning has not yet started, British politics has taken on an increasingly electioneering tone since the start of the year.
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