Darling memoirs attack 'volcanic' Brown and 'stubborn' Bank chief

Memoirs attack: Alistair Darling says Ed Balls ran a rival operation
12 April 2012

Former chancellor Alistair Darling's memoirs brand Gordon Brown "brutal and volcanic" and Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King "amazingly stubborn and exasperating", it was claimed today.

He also accuses shadow chancellor Ed Balls of running the equivalent of a shadow Treasury operation during the last years of the Labour government, according to the website Labour Uncut.

In his book, Back From The Brink: One thousand days at No11, Mr Darling is said to lift the lid on a breakdown in trust between him and the prime minister.

Mr Brown's demeanour is described as increasingly "brutal and volcanic" as relations became more strained. As well as attacking Mr Balls, Mr Darling is said to tell how he refused to have Mr Brown's ally Shriti Vadera at the Treasury, reportedly saying that she was "only happy if there was blood on the floor - preferably that of her colleagues".

Mr Darling, 57, accepted Mr Balls's wife Yvette Cooper as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in early 2008 but always regarded her, according to the website, as having been placed in his team to "keep an eye" on him.

The Labour MP is said to tell how he stood his ground in 2009 when Mr Brown tried to axe him as chancellor and replace him with Mr Balls.

The former chancellor says Labour nearly took the almost unprecedented step in modern times to refuse to renew Sir Mervyn's appointment for a second term in office.

Conservative party chairman Sayeeda Warsi said: "Alistair Darling's memoirs should give Ed Miliband some concerns about Ed Balls's suitability to be shadow chancellor."

Mr Darling's publishers, Atlantic Books, declined to comment on the comments attributed to Mr Darling by Labour Uncut. The memoirs will be published next Wednesday.

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