Cherie speaks for herself

Cherie Blair dishes out the dirt on Gordon Brown today in The Times.

In an interview with The Times and in extracts, Mrs Blair:

— Demolishes the myth of the Gran-ita pact. It has always been suggested that Mr Blair and Mr Brown struck a deal over the leadership in the Isling-ton restaurant of that name. In fact, she says, the discussions took place in her sister’s home days earlier;

— Reveals that she told Mr Blair in 1994 that it would be “ridiculous” that he should agree with Mr Brown to have only one term as leader;

— Reveals that Mr Blair used to tell Mr Brown that if he wanted to be leader he needed to get married;

— Discloses her fury with Mr Brown after he told ministers at Labour’s first Cabinet meeting in 1997 not to take a 26 per cent pay rise. “How dare Gor-don do that? What did he know about financial commitments? He was a bachelor living on his own in a flat with a small mortgage”;

— Denies that her former “style guru” Carole Caplin is “dodgy”, says that it was her idea that Ms Caplin should give Mr Blair massages and insists that it was Ms Caplin who “kept me thin”.

Cherie goes on to deny the claim by Lord Levy recently that Mr Blair did not think that Mr Brown could beat David Cameron:

“Lord Levy doesn’t know anything,” she says. “I know that Tony thinks Gordon could win the election and I know that he has spoken to Gordon about how he could do that. Tony has given Gordon advice. He and Gordon talk to each other even now.”

Right, okay, but how exactly is spilling the beans in this manner helping an unpopular Labour leader to improve his electoral chances?

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Gordon, it does.