No Brown apology needed for emails

LONDON – A British minister said yesterday that emails discussing a smear campaign against the opposition Conservative Party were ‘disgusting’ but Prime Minister Gordon Brown should not have to apologise for them.

The emails, sent by Damien McBride, one of Brown’s inner circle of advisers, proposed a campaign of personal slurs against senior Conservatives and their wives to try to embarrass them as an election approaches. McBride resigned on Saturday
‘I am surprised and I am shocked and I am disgusted. The content of those ideas that were put around by Damian McBride, I don’t think anyone could read that without having a sense of disgust,’ Health Secretary Alan Johnson told BBC radio.
But he said Brown, who faces immense pressure from opposition politicians to personally apologise, could not be held responsible for the actions of every individual that works in the government or civil service.
The Conservatives, keen to play up the impression of a government in disarray as a general election looms within the next 14 months, have stepped up their attacks on Brown.
They said the episode showed Brown’s government had broken its promise to end the culture of news management or ‘spin’ for which his predecessor, Tony Blair, was heavily criticised. Brown took over from Blair nearly two years ago.
Opinion polls show the Conservatives leading the ruling Labour Party by at least seven points as Brown grapples with the financial crisis, a severe recession and rising unemployment.
Brown’s office has said the prime minister knew nothing about the emails, sent by McBride from a Downing Street account.
The controversy detracts from the image Brown seeks to present of a statesmen leading the response to the global financial crisis.
– Nampa-Reuters