BRITISH PRIME minister Gordon Brown has strongly rejected charges he has bullied staff working in No 10 Downing Street, or had to be warned off by the UK’s highest civil servant.
The allegations, made in Observerjournalist Andrew Rawnsley's book, The End of the Party, to be published in the next few days, are "baseless and malicious", a spokesman for Mr Brown declared. However, the controversy heightened after the head of an anti-bullying charity helpline came forward to claim three members of the Downing Street staff had contacted the helpline because of fears at work.
The development came after senior ministers, led by business secretary Lord Peter Mandelson, came forward to defend Mr Brown from the allegations, which could seriously damage Labour’s election campaign if they gain traction.
"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's got a policy or an idea in the best possible form which he can then roll out," Mr Mandelson told BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "On the way, yes, 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're going through such stormy waters?" he asked.
However, the Mandelson-led defence provoked the founder of the National Bullying Helpline, Christine Pratt, to come forward to reveal Downing Street staff had directly contacted her organisation within the last three months.
She said she “seen red” once she had seen Mr Mandelson’s defence, saying ministers should be the ones to show some example and not deny properly held fears of staff. Earlier in the day, the Conservatives had been happy to criticise Mr Brown obliquely, though Ms Pratt’s intervention changed their attitude: “This development suggests that there could be a cover-up at the heart of government over the prime minister’s behaviour,” a spokesman said last night.
The book alleges Mr Brown screamed at staff, grabbed one by the lapels, pushed a secretary out of her chair because she was not typing fast enough, and left one official in fear he was going to be hit.
Secretary to the cabinet, Sir Gus O’Donnell, the UK’s highest civil servant, is said to have quietly tried to calm staff down, telling them not to take Mr Brown’s conduct personally, though he eventually urged Mr Brown to change his behaviour.
Speaking prior to the publication of the excerpts from Rawnsley's book, Mr Brown admitted to getting angry: "I throw the newspapers on the floor or something like that." However, he told Channel 4 News: "Let me just say absolutely clearly, so there is no misunderstanding about that: I have never, never hit anybody in my life."
In a statement last night, a Downing Street spokesman said: “At no time has the National Bullying Helpline contacted No 10 about these allegations. We have rigorous, well-established procedures in place to allow any member of staff address any concerns over inappropriate treatment or behaviour. The civil service will continue to have a no-tolerance policy on bullying.”
Book's key accusations
* Gordon Brown is alleged to have grabbed one official by the lapels in November 2007 after he was told that the confidential tax records of 20 million people had gone missing, snarling: "They're out to get me!"
* The prime minister is said to have pushed one secretary out of her chair when she was not typing fast enough for him, and finished the work himself.
* Told unwelcome news in the car, he erupted in fury and hit the seat in front, while the official who had broken the news thought he was going to be hit in the face.
* One civil servant applying for a No 10 job was asked at his interview whether he could tolerate "extreme verbal abuse". He withdrew his application.
* The top British civil servant, cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, told staff not to take Mr Brown's conduct personally, but eventually he went to the prime minister and told him his conduct could not continue.