Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister of the UK, has spoken to the BBC about how political briefings against Alistair Darling, the late Labour Chancellor, were completely unfair. Brown praised the integrity and wise judgment of Darling following his death at age 70, with the latter perhaps most famous for having guided the UK government during the 2008 financial crisis. However, the pair eventually fell out over disagreements on economic policy, with Darling warning in the summer of 2008 of the worst financial crisis in decades, resulting in a backlash from those close to Brown. Darling also split with Brown over the need for spending cuts after the great increase in government borrowing during the financial crisis.
In an interview, Brown indicated that, as the Prime Minister, journalists were briefed with lines by people who he did not know the names of. Hence, some of these actions happened, and apologies came afterwards. Brown said that it would have been completely unfair if there had been a briefing against Darling that was attributed to him, and he would have apologized in that case. He also noted how he had offered Darling the role of foreign secretary at one point, although Darling refused it because he wanted to remain chancellor.
Lastly, Brown mentioned that he did not believe that Darling had got a lot of credit for shepherding the UK economy to grow after half its banking system collapsed. Brown believed that Darling deserved a significant amount of credit for this. The full interview with Brown can be heard on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme or on BBC Sounds, a catch-up radio service
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