You have deceived me, Mandelson's rages at Brown over Balls' secret 'spin cabal'
By SIMON WALTERS
Last updated at 1:17 AM on 19th April 2009
Peter Mandelson exploded in rage at Gordon Brown in a vicious Downing Street feud involving Ed Balls and disgraced spin doctor Damian McBride, it was revealed last night.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson accused Mr Brown of deceiving him when he discovered the Prime Minister had let Schools Secretary Mr Balls set up a secret ‘spin operation’ inside No10.
According to Labour sources, the row between Lord Mandelson and Mr Balls sowed the seeds of last week’s furore over Mr McBride’s emails smearing senior Conservatives, which led to him being sacked.
'Deception': Lord Mandelson accused the PM of going behind his back
Senior Government aides say the decision to allow an ‘anti-Mandy’ cabal inside Downing Street was a ‘sop’ to Mr Balls, Mr Brown’s chosen heir as Labour leader.
Mr Balls spent much of Tony Blair’s ten years in power plotting on behalf of Mr Brown against the Blairites, making a deadly enemy of chief Blairite cheerleader Lord Mandelson.
When Mr Brown swallowed his pride and recalled Lord Mandelson in a desperate attempt to save his premiership, Mr Balls saw it as a threat to his leadership ambitions and tried to block the move.
Mr Brown said the Blairites and Brownites must bury the hatchet and put Lord Mandelson in charge of the Government’s ‘strategy group’ with Tony Blair’s former No10 spin doctor Alastair Campbell and prominent Brown supporters, Mr Balls, Mr McBride and others.
However, after complaints from Mr Balls, the Prime Minister went behind Lord Mandelson’s back and let him run a rival ‘communications group’ – made up entirely of Brown allies – which meets in secret in a small Downing Street office on Wednesday afternoons.
They used it to chart Mr Balls’s path to power and to stop Lord Mandelson usurping him as Mr Brown’s most powerful Cabinet Minister.
More significantly, the ‘Wednesday afternoon group’ is said to have been linked to other unofficial ‘spin operations’ involving Mr McBride.
'Brown's heir': Ed Balls was given the job as a reward for helping to helping to unseat Mandelson's ally Tony Blair
He was fired last week after being caught smearing senior Tories in a Labour-backed website Red Rag – which never got off the ground.
When Lord Mandelson and Mr Campbell discovered the existence of the so-called ‘Wednesday afternoon group’ a few weeks ago, both were livid.
One source close to Lord Mandelson said: ‘Peter told Gordon it was an outrage that this group had been established as a power base for Balls without his knowledge.
‘He told Gordon that the reason he had come back into Government was because he wanted everyone to work together.
‘Letting Balls gang up with his own little band of co-conspirators was an accident waiting to happen. Gordon cannot say no to Ed, and he lacks the courage to tell the truth to Peter. It highlights how weak Gordon is. Now we have seen the consequences.’
Lord Mandelson demanded that Mr Brown disbanded Mr Balls’s ‘Wednesday afternoon group’ – but Mr Balls urged Mr Brown to say no. The group has carried on meeting.
One colleague of Mr Balls said the two meetings had different roles. Lord Mandelson’s concentrates on the overall direction of the Government, while Mr Balls’s focuses on the Downing Street ‘spin’ operation and Mr Brown’s performance.
One official said: ‘Ed is doing no more than watching Gordon’s back for him.’
A veteran civil servant added: ‘They have a strategy group and a communications group, but the truth is that the Government has no strategy and they do not communicate to each other, let alone to the general public.’
Last updated at 1:17 AM on 19th April 2009
'Deception': Lord Mandelson accused the PM of going behind his back
'Brown's heir': Ed Balls was given the job as a reward for helping to helping to unseat Mandelson's ally Tony Blair
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