UK PM Gordon Brown: 'Blair And I Did Have Leadership Deal'

Brown: 'Blair And I Did Have Leadership Deal'

10:16am UK, Friday February 12, 2010 Miranda Richardson, Sky News Online

Gordon Brown has spoken for the first time about an alleged deal he struck with Tony Blair over the Labour leadership - but insisted it did not take place at the Granita restaurant. The Prime Minister made the comments in an interview with Piers Morgan for ITV. The interview was filmed last week and will be broadcast on Sunday evening.

Asked about claims of a deal before Labour came to power in 1997, the Prime Minister said Mr Blair had agreed to support his leadership bid when he eventually stood down, on the basis that he was given a clear run in 1994. But he claimed that the "understanding" had been reached before their now-infamous dinner at Granita in Islington, north London.

The so-called Granita pact has been the subject of intense speculation ever since, but neither man has confirmed it publicly. In an interview, Mr Brown said: "There was no deal struck at Granita's. That's been one of the great myths and people have written about it." But he went on: "I'd already agreed with Tony before that dinner that he would stand for the leadership and I would stay on as the shadow chancellor, as the person in charge of economic policy. "And there's an understanding that at some point Tony would stand down and he would support me if, when that was the case. And that's where we left it."