Milburn denies rumours of Brown rift
Labour’s chief election co-ordinator Alan Milburn has rejected claims that Gordon Brown has been sidelined in the run up to the expected May 5 poll as “complete and utter nonsense.”
Mr Milburn told BBC One’s Breakfast with Frost that the Chancellor was “entirely central” to Labour’s campaign and added the economy would take “centre stage” in the election.
His comments came amid reports in The Sunday Times that Mr Brown has complained at what he perceives to be mistakes in Labour’s campaign strategy.
It is claimed the Chancellor was snubbed last week when he returned from a trip to China to find that the Prime Minister and Mr Milburn had tried to hijack his planned announcement of an increase in the minimum wage.
The paper alleges Mr Brown intended to unveil the increase next month as part of his Budget statement.
It is reported the Chancellor returned to find that Downing Street had moved forward the announcement to Tony Blair’s press conference on Friday.
The Sunday Times claims hurried arrangements had to be made to avoid a row by organising simultaneous announcements by Mr Blair in London and Mr Brown in Edinburgh.
But Mr Milburn insisted the Chancellor had been fully involved in Friday’s announcement.
“The announcement was made on Friday at Gordon’s suggestion. We made it (the decision) at a meeting I had with, Gordon, with the Prime Minister, with Ian McCartney and John Prescott,” he said.
Dismissing claims Mr Brown had been sidelined, Mr Milburn said: “That is complete and utter nonsense.
“Gordon is entirely central to this campaign. We are fighting this campaign with the economy centre stage. Gordon has an absolutely central part in it,” he added.
“We have now got the strongest economy in Europe so it would be pretty odd if we didn’t campaign on the economy and Gordon Brown wasn’t part and parcel of it.”
Yesterday, former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook called for the Chancellor to be given a more prominent role in Labour’s campaign.
“We need to sell ourselves positively and that’s what Gordon Brown did do in 2001,” he said.
