Labour braced as Blair prepares to trash Brown in first major TV interview since he quit as PM
Labour is braced for a new outbreak of the Blair-Brown wars as allies of Gordon Brown ready themselves to hit back at criticism by Tony Blair of his premiership.
Mr Blair yesterday filmed his first major television interview since he left Downing Street ahead of the publication tomorrow of his memoir, entitled A Journey.
The interview, by Andrew Marr, will be screened on BBC2 at 7pm tomorrow.
Publicity: Mr Blair spoke to Andrew Marr ahead of the launch of his new book, A Journey, on Wednesday. In the memoir he discusses Iraq, Gordon Brown's premiership and the coalition government
Mr Blair will defend his role in the Iraq War and pass judgment on Mr Brown’s handling of the financial crisis and the election campaign, and the performance of the coalition Government.
Mr Brown’s allies are preparing a counterblast amid reports that Mr Blair will blame his successor for losing the election by turning away from his New Labour reforms.
Memoirs: Blair's book goes on sale on Wednesday. He has already vowed to donate profits to charity
He is likely to stress that his Chancellor and successor was solely responsible for the regulatory free-for-all that led to the economic crisis.
A senior Labour figure said: ‘Gordon is convinced that everyone is trying to trash his reputation on the economy.’
Brownites are also concerned that Mr Blair will reveal details of his private conversations with Mr Brown – delivering a partial account of their many rows.
They fear that will allow Mr Blair to steal a march on their man because his book and interview will be the first to pass judgment on their years together – and because Mr Brown has repeatedly refused to pen a tell-all insider’s account.
A Brown ally said: ‘If Blair is going to use this to settle scores then he needs to know that he will not have the field to himself.
‘Gordon’s friends will not stand idly by and see his achievements rubbished.’
As the Daily Mail revealed yesterday, Mr Blair will also argue that Labour must move back to his reforms if it wants to win another election – an implied criticism of Mr Brown’s lurch to the left.
But a renewed outbreak of hostilities is likely to dismay the party as it picks a new leader. It will be particularly unhelpful for David Miliband, the former Blair aide who has tried to distance himself from the widely held view that he is the nearest thing to an heir to Blair in the contest.
Smiles: But Blair's criticism of Brown's premiership has seen his allies fuming, and left former Blair aide and leadership hopeful David Miliband distancing himself from the claims
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