Downing Street bullying row Cabinet goes on the conflict prior to claims even published

THE concentration on Gordon Browns purported man-management problems began when a Sunday paper claimed last month that questions were being asked about incidents of bullying. Then last week end extracts from a book by Observer arch domestic writer Andrew Rawnsley were published in the paper claiming Downing Street staff were intimidated by outbursts by the Prime Minister.By Saturday afternoon – prior to the ADVERTISEMENTallegations were published – Labour and the supervision were denying their validity. Mr Brown himself appeared on Channel Four to repudiate any accusations, privately earthy violence.By Sunday, Lord Mandelson led a fibre of comparison Cabinet ministers in interviews claiming that the allegations were fake and that, whilst "passionate and demanding", the Prime Minister was "no bully". But the story took a uninformed turn when Christine Pratt, arch senior manager of the National Bullying Helpline, went on radio to lay she had privately taken calls about bullying in 10 Downing Street. Yesterday the story focused on Ms Pratt, with questions over probable crude links in between her gift and her husbands human resources consultancy. It was additionally referred to she was piece of a Conservative plot, an claim denied by her and the Tories.Ms Pratt came underneath vigour to renounce for violation confidentiality and she was forced to confess that Mr Brown had not been complained about privately to her.She additionally lost dual congregation to her charity, heading clergyman Professor Carry Cooper and Tory MP Ann Widdecombe.However, the subject outlines over Ms Pratt did not inhibit courtesy from Mr Brown. Last night his orator eventually pronounced that the Prime Minister had not been oral to in any approach about bullying or intimidatory poise by the Cabinet Secretary, Gus O"Donnell.