Tories demand No 10 inquiry over ‘bully’ Gordon Brown

Laughing it off: Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson arrive at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea for an investment conference today after a weekend of damaging claims

David Cameron today called for an inquiry into claims that Gordon Brown bullies and swears at his staff.

It came in a day of claim and counter-claim surrounding the Prime Minister's behaviour and character.

Downing Street's official spokesman refused to deny that the Cabinet Secretary had spoken to Mr Brown privately about his behaviour towards junior staff at No 10.

The head of the National Bullying Helpline charity retreated on suggestions that Mr Brown was the cause of three or four calls to her organisation from Downing Street staff. Christine Pratt said Mr Brown was not the bully involved in the cases.

A former No 10 official told the Standard that Mr Brown frequently "stunned" secretaries and switchboard operators with his abusive behaviour.

Mr Cameron called for an inquiry by the Whitehall official in charge of policing the Ministerial Code of Conduct, Sir Philip Mawer. "These are very serious matters," he said.

"I'm sure that No 10 and the civil service in some way will want to have some sort of inquiry to get to the bottom of what has happened here." He described the episode as "another unseemly mess at the fag end of a government that is tired and discredited".

The most heated exchanges were between Mr Brown's allies and Mrs Pratt, the woman whose claims yesterday that No 10 staff called the bullying helpline turned embarrassing claims in a book by Andrew Rawnsley into a full-blown crisis.

Today Mrs Pratt stunned Westminster when she admitted under media questioning that she was "absolutely not" suggesting that the Prime Minister personally bullied anyone. "I'm not accusing Gordon Brown or anyone of being a bully. I don't know the detail. We are not accusing Gordon Brown of being a bully," she said.

But she went back on the offensive by revealing that she had received overnight a fresh allegation, this time directly against Mr Brown. "This case is a can of worms," she said. "Someone is saying they have issues with Gordon Brown."

She was dealt a blow when Professor Cary Cooper resigned as a patron of her charity in protest at her breaching confidentiality.

Lord Mandelson muddied the waters by claiming Mrs Pratt was linked to the Tories. He told an audience: "This whole affair is starting to acquire a slight odour. It now looks like more of a political operation, directed at the Prime Minister personally."

The Business Secretary alleged that Conservative Party press officers had "guided" journalists towards her — which was denied by the BBC, which first interviewed her. A Conservative spokesman also denied it and accused Lord Mandelson of a "smear".

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