Before any politician starts getting too pompous about Gordon Brown’s gaffe it’s worth remembering the time that Nick Clegg was overheard on a plane dismissing a potential reshuffle with Danny Alexander, chief of staff.
Not only did he say he wanted to demote Chris Huhne and fretted that Julia Goldsworthy was being “patronised” in her job.
He also said Steve Webb “must go”. “I can’t stand the man…we need someone with good ideas,” he confided.
Meanwhile Andrew Rawnsley, whose latest book documents many of Brown’s rages, says the latest incident is relatively “mild”. It was only about “2 or 3 out of 10″ compared to some of the “9s and 10s” endured by Brown’s staff, he reckons.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey