Thaindian News

London, Feb. 26 (ANI): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has “laughed off” reports claiming that his “you ruined my life” outburst at Tony Blair led to his predecessor’s departure from 10 Downing Street.

The claim of Brown’s alleged showdown with Blair emerged from a book by political commentator Andrew Rawnsley, and it came a day after Chancellor Alistair Darling insisted that Brown “unleashed the forces of hell” against him after he predicted that the recession would be the worst for 60 years.

When asked how damaging the “you-ruined-my-life” and “unleashing-the-forces-of-hell” stories were, Brown said both of them were “so ridiculous.”

“Given that they are both completely wrong, and that you can almost laugh them off, they are so ridiculous,” The Scotsman quoted Brown, as saying during a visit to Allied Vehicles Ltd in Glasgow.

“I think what people are looking for is someone who gets on with the job. I’m passionate to do things, I want to get things done and I’m very passionate about the future of our country,” he said.”For me, being in the job I am in is about delivering for the people of our country and delivering every day,” he added.

Rawnsley’s book describes a stormy private meeting on the eve of Blair’s announcement in 2006 that he would stand down as Prime Minister within a year. It asserts that Brown demanded that Blair ensure he faced no rival for the Labour leadership succession.The book, The End of the Party, quotes Blair later telling friends: “He kept shouting at me that I’d ruined his life.”Recently, Brown has admitted that he and Blair made a deal over the Labour leadership when it came up in 1994. Brown indicated he felt he should have taken over at that point. Instead, he stood aside for Blair on the basis that he would later back Brown to take over in the top job. That did not happen for 13 years. (ANI)