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Tories demand inquiry into Brown ‘bullying’
They have overshadowed a Labour poll recovery which has seen the ruling party, in power since 1997, narrow the gap on the Conservatives to six points -- a margin that could lead to a hung parliament in which no party has an absolute majority.
The head of a charity set up to counter workplace bullying said there had been “two or more” calls to its helpline from the prime minister’s office but said she was not accusing Brown of being a bully. She did not say when the complaints were made.
“We would have hoped that Gordon Brown would have said that he was looking into this, that due process was being followed and that he takes these issues seriously,” Christine Pratt, who runs the National Bullying Helpline, told BBC Radio 4.
With an election to be held by June, the claims inevitably sharpened the focus on Brown’s character as a leader and provoked a political slanging match.
“They are very serious matters and I’m sure that Number 10 Downing Street and the civil service in some way will want to have some sort of inquiry to try and get to the bottom of what has happened here,” Conservative leader David Cameron told reporters.
Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said the prime minister appeared to be the victim of a political campaign and dismissed calls for an inquiry.
“Do you not think we have better things to do than to chase up every rag, tag and bobtail rumor, innuendo and smear that anyone with a book to sell chooses to pump into the ether” Mandelson said at a conference in London.
“We’ve got a country to run, that’s what’s important to us. Nobody bullies, nobody tolerates bullying in this government, in any part of this government, period, zero, and that’s it, OK?”
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