Ministers defend Brown against bully claims
Updated on 21 February 2010
Lord Mandelson insists Gordon Brown is not a bully, as the prime minister's supporters rushed to deny allegations about his behaviour towards his staff.
A new book details a series of alleged black moods and angry outbursts, from "shoving aside" an aide to "crashing his fist" into the back of a car seat.
At The End Of The Party, by journalist Andrew Rawnsley, was today serialised in the Observer newspaper. In it, Mr Rawnsley suggests that Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell was so concerned about reports of Mr Brown's treatment of staff that he investigated before talking to the prime minister about his behaviour.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said it was "categorically not the case" that Sir Gus had asked for an investigation and Number 10 said the "malicious allegations are totally without foundation".
Yesterday, Mr Brown insisted to Channel 4 News: "I have never hit anybody in my life". He added he had never shoved anyone either.
"I throw the newspapers on the floor or something like that, but please," he said.
"Let me just say absolutely clearly, so that there is no misunderstanding about that, I have never, never hit anybody in my life."
Lord Mandelson told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "I don't think he so much bullies people as he is very demanding of people.
He described Mr Brown as "a man who is quite emotional, is quite passionate in what be believes and what he is doing...who gets angry but chiefly with himself, who doesn't bully people.
"He is demanding of himself, he is demanding of people around him, he knows what he wants to do, he does not like taking no for an answer from anyone, he will go on and on until he has got a policy and an idea in the best possible form which he can then roll out.
"There is a degree of impatience about the man but what would you like, some sort of shrinking violet at the helm of the government when we are going through such stormy waters."
Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman also told Sky News Sunday Live that she did not recognise the portrayal of Mr Brown. "He passionately cares about things, but that's a good thing not a bad thing," she said.
'Balanced'
The author of the book, Andrew Rawnsley, told Krishnan Guru Murthy that the book was "very balanced" about the prime minister.
"But if he's inviting voters, as he is, to judge him on his character, they deserve to know all the sides of that character," he said.
On the allegation that Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell investigated Mr Brown's behaviour, Mr Rawnsley said: "This is part of the smokescreen…one thing they do is to deny things that were never actually said to avoid addressing the issues and questions that were really raised.
"Nowhere in the book does it say that Gus O'Donnell ordered a formal investigation or asked for one.
"I thought it was extraordinary enough that Gus O'Donnell had to go to the prime minister and warn him about his behaviour, but that would have been absolutely sensational.
"What I do say is that the cabinet secretary became so worried that he made his own inquiries and then gave a verbal warning to the prime minister.
"And at the same time Sir Gus, who was understandably worried about this and concerned for people who are his responsibility in Downing Street ultimately, he went to them and said 'don't take it personally'."
On his sources, Mr Rawnsley said: "I excluded quite a lot from the book because there has been a lot of gossip and rumour over the years swirling about Gordon Brown's behaviour, and I had a rule a rumour is not the same as a fact.
"Things only went into the book when they were absolutely impeccably sourced and there was no reason at all to doubt the source.
"Some of the sources were people who worked for Gordon Brown for many years, loved the man, admired him. They weren't Tories, they weren't embittered Blairites, they were people who loved and admired the man and yet also saw his flaws.
"When they were asked questions by me they answered truthfully."
