When Tony Blair and Gordon Brown Retire They Know Exactly What Pension They'll Get . . . The Rest of Us Aren't so Lucky. Their Response to the Crisis? Another War of Succession

Sunday Herald › November 29, 2005

Linked as:

Summary

DELIBERATE sabotage, leaks of a restricted report, and a government "mole-hunt" likely to re-open old wounds in a bitter war of succession sound like key elements to a decent John le Carre political thriller. Instead, in the run up to this week's publication of the Turner Commission report on the future of Britain's state pension, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have resumed New Labour's own version of War And Peace.

Nicholas Macpherson, the Treasury secretary, will begin sending out directives this weekend to key Whitehall personnel, requiring them to sign statements stating they were not involved in the deliberate leaking of a letter from the Chancellor to the pensions report author, Lord Turner. Such internal hunts have historically been prone to failure. But Macpherson is said to be confident that he and his "detectives" can uncover the leak culprit within the confines of the Treasury, the Department for Works and Pensions and, crucially, Number 10.

See the full content of this document

Extract

When Tony Blair and Gordon Brown Retire They Know Exactly What Pension They'll Get . . . The Rest of Us Aren't so Lucky. Their Response to the Crisis? Another War of Succession

Downing Street on Friday offered a limited "it-wasn't-us" statement. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said "I can categorically deny - as far as my knowledge goes and those I have spoken to in Number 10 - that we were responsible for the leak."

The key words in the statement are "as far as my knowledge goes". What will focus Macpherson's attention towards the staff behind Tony Blair's front door is that the leak also contained a reply from Lord Turner which had yet to reach the Treasury. Downing Street is thought to be the only other office to have seen the Turner reply. The assumption? Brown may be prudent, b...

See the full content of this document