Brown the bully?

Several of this morning’s newspapers carry claims that Gordon Brown has been bullying his Ministers and interfering with their work.

These reports come on the back of last night’s first instalment of The Blair Years on BBC1 which focussed on the former Prime Minister’s relationship with his then Chancellor.

This programme confirmed what many respected political observers have been saying for years: that Brown is a control freak who is not averse to using strong arm tactics to get his way.

This approach did not always work with Tony Blair who, it appears, gave as good as he got and was not afraid to pull rank on Brown whenever the need arose.

The problem now, with Brown in the top job himself, is that the way the way is clear for the new PM to dictate policy to his Ministerial colleagues as much as he likes.

This is no way to run a country and it is hard not to feel that Mr Brown’s scowling approach will come back to haunt him - possibly sooner rather than later.