The forces of hell

It's not going away is it?

Last Sunday's Observer carried a largely ignored piece about the way that Gordon Brown's mafia had ganged up on his chancellor after Alistair Darling had told the country to effectively batton down the hatches as we went into recession.

A message that the man who told us we were best prepared for the impending economic gloom clearly didn't want us to here.

Darling accused Number 10 of unleashing the 'forces of hell' against him in an interview last night forcing Brown to go on the offensive this morning denying that he would ever do anything to undermine his Chancellor.

However it was no secret that Brown wanted his sidekick Ed Balls in that position.He was thwarted back in 2007 and again last year when senior members of his cabinet refused steadfast to put Balls in one of the three grand positions.

Strange also that it is Balls who is in front of the media this morning insisting he did not recognise claims there is a poisonous atmosphere at No 10.

But back to the Chancellor's claims.Speaking to Sky he said that after his prediction back in 2008 No 10 aides briefed journalists that he had harmed the economy and should be sacked. The finger being squarely pointed at a certain Damien McBride as hinted in the Rawnsley extracts

Winston's bullying problems

Events dear boy events reminds us that Gordon Brown isnt the only Prime Minister to have problems over relationships.

This letter was sent to Winston Churchill by his wife Clementine during the Battle of Britain:

What a day

You could believe that perhaps Andrew Rawnsley is out to get the Prime Minister.Geoffrey Robinson certainly thinks that clearly of the opinion that a pro Blairite Rawnsley has never wanted Brown in the top job.

Rawnsley though is a top political journalist with impeccable sources.It's unlikely that these revelations have come from anywhere other than senior Labour sources.

Meanwhile allies of the Prime Minister have challenged the claims made by the bullying headline and called for the charity to to prove them and to cap it all the patron of the charity has resigned saddened by the sudden lack of confidentiality in its dealings with the press.

As I have blogged earlier the longer this goes on,the more damage that will be done to the Brown brand and the fact that it has taken Sir Gus O'Donnell the best part of the day to refute the allegations says a lot.

"The Cabinet Secretary would like to make clear that he has never raised concerns with the Prime Minister about him acting in a bullying or intimidatory manner in relation to No 10 staff, let alone giving him any sort of verbal warning,"

Somehow I suspect there will be a lot more on this to come out of the woodwork

Unravelling by the second

Last night,it appeared that the final nail in Gordon's coffin was being hammered in with as Christine Pratt released details of complaints made to a national bullying "charity".

Now it seems that this all could have been part of a Tory spin plot.

As Adam Bienkov reports a quick look at the "charities website reveals

In fact a quick look at NBH's website reveals:

* A personal endorsement from Conservative leader David Cameron
* One of their patrons is Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe
* Another patron is Boris Johnson's Chair of the London Health Authority, Conservative Cllr Mary O'Connor
* They have close ties to Conservative controlled Swindon borough Council.

As I write this piece,Christine Pratt has confirmed that none of the claims came from the office of No 10.

But let's get one thing clear.Bullying at work is a serious matter,it can leave victims scarred for life and it is quite symptomatic of the state of our work environment that this culture has permeated inside the corridors of power.

Now I also understand that any Prime Minister must be under enormous pressure and that ,combined with a political passion, must place great strains on working relationships.

Does it matter what happens behind the closed doors of Downing Street? The answer is of course it does.