Blair betrayed two key promises to me, says Brown

GORDON BROWN has accused Tony Blair of betraying two key promises in the pact the two men made over the Labour leadership – to stand down early in his second term as prime minister and to have a “partnership” at the top of the party.

Writing in his memoirs, which are published tomorrow, Mr Brown said Mr Blair reassured him that he had made a “family choice” that he would give up the premiership after as little as five years so he could spend time with his three children while they were in their teens.

The book said the media had “wrongly” focused on what was said between the pair during a meal at the Granita restaurant in Islington in May 1994. He said it was just a “formality” after the agreement to give Mr Blair a free run at the leadership was hammered out in the preceding days.

But he recalled how Mr Blair “emphasised the word “partnership again and again” after they left the restaurant, where the deal was “rubberstamped” that Mr Brown would not contest the leadership following John Smith’s death.

Recalling their discussions two weeks before the Granita dinner, Mr Brown said: “Tony had reiterated that he had wanted me to stay on as shadow chancellor and would give me control over economic and social policy. This time, he added another promise – that if elected as prime minister, he would stand down in his second term.”

The former chancellor concluded: “The restaurant did not survive and neither did our agreement.”

Speaking at an event at Edinburgh University yesterday, to mark the book’s publication, Mr Brown said that despite all that he had achieved, Mr Blair will “almost certainly” be remembered for the Iraq war.

Mr Brown also said he accepted that it was “not a glorious chapter in British history”.