Brown interview renews rumours of deal with Blair

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Gordon Brown yesterday renewed speculation he had made a "secret" pact with Tony Blair to take over as Prime Minister before a third term.

Mr Brown fuelled rumours of a private deal by refusing to deny the two politicians have privately discussed the leadership succession.

In the past the Chancellor has dismissed any talk of a deal as "gossip", but yesterday, in an interview with David Frost on the BBC, he implied he had talked with Mr Blair about the Prime Minister standing down in a second term. "What Tony Blair and I have said to each other really is a matter for us," he said. "What Tony Blair and I talk to each other about is something very private."

His reply, which left Mr Frost temporarily speechless, will renew talk of growing tensions between the Prime Minister and his Chancellor.

The refusal to deny the pact, which is unlikely to be interpreted in Westminster circles as a "slip of the tongue", defies a private agreement with Mr Blair not to publicly fuel speculation over the leadership.

The Prime Minister, as recently as May this year, poured water on talk of a deal when he said: "As Gordon and I both say whenever we're asked about this, there is no gentlemen's agreement, no."

The Tories accused Mr Brown of trying to drive a deliberate wedge through the Cabinet and accused him of having "sulky tantrums".

"Gordon Brown believes he has a private agreement to take over the job of PM," said David Davis, the Tory party chairman. "His overweening ambition is wrecking the Government."

In the past Mr Brown has denied point-blank there is a special arrangement for Mr Blair to stand down in a second termso that his old ally can take over as Prime Minister. In a BBC interview in 1999, when asked if Mr Blair had ever told him he would stand aside to give him the chance to become leader, the Chancellor said: "No, this is all gossip, no."

Downing Street and the Treasury both tried to quell the rumours yesterday denying there was a fresh rift between the two departments. A spokesman for the Treasury said: "The Chancellor always refused to discuss these issues. He is much more interested in discussing issues such as the NHS."

There have been years of speculation of a deal ever since Mr Brown stood aside, in 1994, to leave the Labour leadership open to Mr Blair. The pair shared an office when they entered parliament in 1983 and were close friends, although Mr Blair initially became the junior member of the partnership.

Mr Brown is said to have struck a deal after they agreed Mr Blair should be the modernising candidate in the leadership race to succeed John Smith.

Yesterday the Prime Minister's official spokesman tried to dampen renewed talk of the pact. He said: "Anyone watching it [the interview with Frost] would have seen the Chancellor doing a big interview about health and refusing to get dragged on to the private agenda. The Prime Minister is the Prime Minister and the Chancellor is the Chancellor."

Meanwhile, Mr Brown yesterday issued a sharp rebuke to Charles Clarke, the Labour Party chairman, who had suggestedin an interview that the political benefits of joining the European single currency were so great that the Government should go ahead with a referendum even if it was only a "50-50 call" on the economy. The Chancellor said there could be not a watering down of the Government's five economic tests for joining the euro.

"People have got to be satisfied this is in the economic interests of the country," the Chancellor said. "These tests have got be met and that is why people will want to know that the results of those tests are clear and unambiguous."

Mr Brown, whose wife Sarah Macauley is expecting a baby early next year, confirmed yesterday that he will take paternity leave. The Chancellor said having a child would "change his life" and that he was "looking forward to it".

What they said...

Blair on Brown:

"It's not for me to choose my successor but you know what I feel about Gordon, how strong and close we are... And I know people are always trying to make mischief between us but they never will. And he is somebody with every quality to be a great British Prime Minister. But whether he's Prime Minister, or I'm Prime Minister... depends on the British people."

26 September 1999

"As Gordon and I both say whenever we're asked, there is no gentlemen's agreement."

Asked if there was a deal of any kind, he said "no".

9 May 2001

Brown on Blair:

The BBC interviewer John Humphrys: "Just a final thought, did Mr Blair ever tell you ­ just to clear up this contentious matter ­ did Mr Blair ever tell you he would stand aside and give you a chance to become leader?"

Brown: "No, this is all gossip."

26 September 1999

Mr Brown tells Sir David Frost that he has a "very strong working relationship" with Mr Blair, but adds: "What Tony Blair and I have said to each other really is a matter for us. What Tony Blair and I talk to each other about is something very private."

2 December 2001