Darling calls McBride and Whelan the 'forces of hell'

Austin Barry

Darling, who seems a decent if misguided soul, must detest working with the porcine, thuggish coterie with which Brown invariably surrounds himself.

stephen

Well who is the nasty party now? Certainly not the Tories! NuLabour just seems to get nastier and nastier; Woolas' attack on the unfortunately named Mrs Pratt was appalling. At least she now has Max Clifford in her corner so hopefully we will get more revelations about the Nunasty party!

ajs

Darling and Balls should exchange names!

Fenman

Perhaps Mr Darling see`s himself in Nr 10 as the resident

michael m

The BBC is reporting that it was Downing Street and the Tories who were briefing against him- this is not what Darling said! He later tried to implicate the Tories once he realised what he had said

strapworld

Brown has denied this.
Now Brown cannot go on saying he was 'upstairs collecting fares'

These people were employed by Brown. THEY knew what Brown was thinking, what Brown wanted. He has got to be the most incompetent manager of all time, employing these ghastly people like Whelen and McBride. Brown cannot escape criticsim. BUT HE WILL, listening to the skynews political correspondent just now.

What is wrong with you hacks. You are all FRIT. GIVE Rawnsley some support!

Nick

Time to replay the question Fraser Nelson asked of the PM at the monthly conference a year back whether he had had any plans to sack Darling and replace him with Balls. PM quite categorically denied them despite the fact that Balls was packed and ready to move in and had said goodbye to his dept staff.

Sarah Brown will have to do another TV interview claiming that her husband isn't a liar.

steve

Unusual indeed.

Could it be that the chancellor has just seen the treasury's preliminary predictions of the 1st quarter GDP figures and realised that he might as well start the fight against Gordon now, because electoral oblivion is only just around the corner ?

mitch

Darling will be the next lab leader ....you heard it here first.
He is the only Minister with any honesty and integrity, he actually told the truth and survived.He never gets involved in the general incompetence and comes across as a safe pair of hands, Cameron should be worried.

charles hercock

Dynamite.The bunker is falling apart.Perhaps the most telling comment was that Darling was still here from the horses mouth.More please

AndyinBrum

Discussing this at work, the opinion is that they've gone completely demob happy

Vulture

A Coffee House conundrum: What is more disgusting-

a) Bully-Bruin setting his slavering attack dogs on his fellow Scot, one time slavish supporter, puppet, next-door-neighbour and closest Cabinet colleague?

b) Or Darling's droolingly abject submission to the above to the extent that he still sits alongside Bruin on the front bench with all the other nodding donkeys rather than doing a Geoffrey Howe and saying "F--- Off Bruin. You are a demented rabid loon and its time everyone knew it".

If Dave doesn't make hay with this gift at PMQs today we might as well all pack up and go home.

Inside Man

Well it looks like it'ss not all smoke and no fire...

The of course we have had Mandy's mis-speak on no bullying but 5 reported cases.

Even more bare-faced was Brown on GMTV saying he had no idea why anyone would brief against his close friend Darling. Does he think we are all completely stupid? You don't keep attack dogs for their cuddly personalities.

Brown has proabably just shot himself in the foot here.

Holly ......

All very interesting,it will be played down as Darling having a gudge against Brown.
What I want to know is,what was the £72bn
'other'spent on?
Randall asked one of the 60 million people in the country who hasn't got any idea in his interview with Cameron, so it should figure that he would ask the person who should know.
Did he ask this and I missed it?

Kelvin Maguire

The chances of Ed Balls throwing his hat into any ring are slim, seeing as there's a good chance he'll lose his seat.

So might Darling.

IfBrownWinsIEmigrate

Mystery: there are large numbers of British people who, if asked, openly declare their intention to vote for these people. "Gosh, yes please, I'll have some more of THAT!".

Right On

Holly.....

My guess on the £72bn question was that Randall didn't ask as they had already given Darling 24 hours to prepare an answer and that most likely the "other" spending is easily explained in accounting terms.

Dorothy Wilson

Mitch: Two or three months I put forward - half in jest - on Coffee House the possibility that Darling was the dark horse in the race to replace Brown as Labour leader.

However, before that has a chance to happen Labour will tear itself apart - even if by any remote chance they win the next election. Just imagine the reaction of the Labour left if their govenment, at that stage still led by Brown, had to introduce the massive cuts that are inevitable.

Michael Booth

Idea for next Tory campaign poster:

Pictures of Brown, Balls and Harman with the caption "Forces of Hell" and attributed to the Chancellor.

Priceless....

TrevorsDen

The whole point about the intricacies of the red book is that you are NOT supposed to know whats in it.

The Laughing Cavalier

McBride sat at a desk abutting Brown's. We are being told we must believe that Brown did not know what this close subordinate was doing.

David B

What I find most disturbing about this is that Darling was trying to tell the truth and Team Brown did not like the truth being told because it was politically damaging. This raises the question of can we believe anything the government tells us as they are putting political considerations as the main priority.

Ken

Dorothy Wilson and Mitch:
Hmm... haven't these people done enough wrecking?
"In his early years Darling was a member of the International Marxist Group, then the British section of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. Private Eye draw attention to a column in the Daily Record by the former Labour MP and now leader of Respect Renewal, George Galloway. Galloway, who is sympathetic to the Stalinist Communist Party of Britain notes: “When I first met him 35 years ago... Darling was pressing Trotskyite tracts on bewildered railwaymen at Waverley Station in Edinburgh. He was a supporter of the International Marxist Group, whose publication was entitled the Black Dwarf. Later, in preparation for his current role he became the treasurer of what was always termed the rebel Lothian Regional Council.”

Kennybhoy

In the light of the events of the past forty-eight hours the spectacle of the holder of one of the four Great Offices of State simultaneously whinging and boasting is nauseating to behold. Darling and his ilk are big boys and girls who should be able to look after themselves. Poor bloody AOs working under them at the Treasury or Number 10 are a different matter entirely. Not to mention concerned, honourable folk such as Christine Pratt or innocents such as Rose Addis, God keep her.