Blair discusses rift with Brown in memoirs

by Anna Seward

Tony Blair has spoken of the deep rift between himself and Gordon Brown in his memoirs, which went on sale today (Wednesday).

The former prime minister describes his chancellor as "maddening", but revealed he was unable to sack him because this might lead to a left-wing rebellion.

Mr Blair said that he was under "relentless personal pressure" from Mr Brown, who he also describes as a "strange guy" with "zero" emotional intelligence.

He admitted in an interview with the Guardian that, towards the end of his premiership, Mr Brown became "very difficult" and the pair regularly disagreed on major aspects of government policy.

He also wrote in his book, entitled 'A Journey', that unless Mr Brown defined himself along New Labour lines, he felt his successor's role as prime minister was "going to be a disaster".

However, Mr Blair insisted that Mr Brown was "strong, capable and brilliant, and those were qualities for which I never lost respect".

The former prime minister discusses the Iraq war at length, describing the "anguish" he felt at the loss of life but insisting that removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right thing to do.

"Tears, though there have been many, do not encompass it," he writes.

"I feel desperately sorry for them, sorry for the lives cut short, sorry for the families whose bereavement is made worse by the controversy over why their loved ones died, sorry for the utterly unfair selection that the loss should be theirs."