The Slog’s research has established more or less the exact moment during September 2006 at which Tony Blair decided he had no choice but to go…otherwise – he thought – Gordon Brown would set fire to everything
It is clear from Peter Watt’s book Inside Out that from roughly November 2005 onwards, Gordon Brown began pushing very hard for Tony Blair to hand over the crown to his one-time political ally. We can all too easily forget today (now the totality of Brown’s fiscal incompetence has been examined in detail) how high his political standing was at that time. The view was widely held in the Commons across all Parties that the self-styled Greatest Ever Chancellor’s economic skills had been the real secret of New Labour’s three-in-a-row election run. Now (having survived an attempt to sideline him during the Iraq War) Gordon was knocking on the door of Butcher Blair to demand his pound of flesh….
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