Brown turned down leadership over Euro, says Short
Ms Short resigned from the cabinet in 2003
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Tuesday, 06, Mar 2007 08:49
Tony Blair offered to hand the Labour leadership to Gordon Brown during his second term in office if the chancellor allowed the UK to join the Euro, according to Clare Short.
Speaking on "Blair: The Inside Story", a BBC Two documentary due to be broadcast tonight, the former international development minister tells of an in-flight conversation with the prime minister during a visit to Africa.
The 61-year-old politician, known for her strong criticism of the current prime minister, reports Mr Blair saying: "You know, I really wish Gordon would let me join the euro. If he would, I would certainly. I don't want a third term, I would hand over to him."
In response to Mr Blair's alleged comments Ms Short said: "If you ever want me to say anything to Gordon, please tell me. And he said: 'I do'."
However the proposal was snubbed by Mr Brown, who is widely expected to become the next leader of the Labour party this year, who turned down the offer for economic reasons.
"So I told Gordon and he said the message had been conveyed by two other people and you can't do policy like that. Anyway, there was no guarantee he'd keep his word," Ms Short added.
Ms Short resigned in May 2003 over the Iraq war, stating that reassurances she was given regarding the reconstruction of the attacked country were broken by the prime minister. Since then she has been a well-known critic of the Blair government, renouncing her Labour whip in parliament and sitting as an independent Labour MP last year.