Blair 'rift:' Brown call for unity
Speculation rife on Blair succession
 |  Brown: Out of the country when Blair announced his plans for the future. |
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 Blair says he will not seek fourth term as British PM.
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WASHINGTON -- British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has repeated his call for unity within the Labour government as speculation mounted about a growing rift between him and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Speaking to reporters at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, Brown took the attack to the opposition Conservative party, whose annual conference starts this weekend.
"United as a party, our task is to unite the country around the progressive consensus about our shared economic purpose as a nation -- entrenching stability, investing in skills and science and improving our public services," he said.
Blair's announcement Thursday that he planned to retain power for five more years sparked feverish speculation about who would succeed him.
Blair was was recovering and doing paperwork at his country retreat over the weekend after successfully undergoing treatment to correct an irregular heartbeat.
However, some Brown supporters were pushing for an early handover to their man.
In an interview for the GMTV Sunday program, former health secretary Frank Dobson -- a strong critic of the British PM -- warned that time was running out for Blair. "He has got two to two-and-a-half years tops of actually being in charge," he said.
"He isn't an asset, because he is so closely associated with our disastrous policies in sucking up to the Americans over Iraq. Opinion polls show that if Gordon Brown were leader of the party, we'd be doing better."
There were signs that the big unions were prepared to throw their weight behind the calls for an early handover of power to Brown, the UK's Press Association reported.
Kevin Curran, general secretary of the GMB union, told the Sunday Times that he believed that even Blair did not really think that he could serve a full third term.
"The moment a leader starts talking about going, it creates an environment in which people consider their own futures. It doesn't resolve the Blair-Brown issue," he said.
"Most people are only looking to one person -- Gordon Brown -- to succeed. A lot of people recognize Gordon's intellectual ability, his leadership and the fact that he is wedded to the values of the party."
 Blair and wife Cherie leave London Saturday for the Prime Minister's country residence Chequers. | |
On Saturday supporters of the favorite Brown were warned not to destabilize the Labour Party with damaging speculation over the future of the leadership.
Blair's announcement on his future triggered a fresh wave of reports claiming that he had reneged on a deal earlier this year to stand down in favor of Brown.
Under the front-page headline "The anger and hurt of Brown", the Labour Party-supporting Guardian newspaper said Saturday that Brown, in Washington for an IMF meeting, was "masking private hurt and bemusement."
"I can't believe he's (Blair) done this," one of Brown's aides told the newspaper. "It's like an African coup. They waited until he was out of the country."
Newspapers said Brown was kept in the dark over both Blair's "full third term" decision and the fact he was about to go into hospital for a heart procedure.
The chancellor was on a British Airways flight to Washington Thursday as news broke in London of the operation, Blair's purchase of a £3.6m ($6.5m) house and his intention to serve another full term as prime minister.
Blair's office says he will go ahead as planned with a trip to Africa Tuesday.
