Brown denies unleashing ‘forces of hell’ against Darling

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday he played no part in negative briefings about his chancellor after Alistair Darling said the “forces of hell” had been unleashed on him from Brown’s office.

With an election due by June and the Labour Party trailing the Conservatives in opinion polls, the issue of Brown’s leadership style has moved to the top of the media agenda after a Sunday newspaper reported he had bullied his staff.

“I never instructed a briefing against my chancellor,” Brown told legislators in answer to a question about the comments by Darling.