Jonathan Powell: Blair felt physically threatened by Brown

Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s chief of staff, is the latest veteran of the Brown Blair era to have his say and he is even more vicious about Gordon Brown than Peter Mandelson was. In his memoirs, which are being serialised in The Guardian tomorrow, he says that Blair ‘felt physically threatened’ when Brown leaned over his desk and demanded a departure date in 2001. But the charge which is sure to most infuriate the Brownites is Powell’s allegation that in the aftermath of 9/11:

“The only time I saw him [Brown] appear to cheer up during that period was when the war cabinet was told there was a specific terrorist threat to Tony’s life.”