Brown claim to have saved 500,000 jobs 'is a lie': Darling (10)

Gordon Brown has been accused of ‘lying’ by Alistair Darling in a vicious feud that threatens to wreck the Government’s attempt to combat the recession.

The Chancellor has enraged the Prime Minister by refusing point-blank to back Mr Brown’s claim that his multi-billion-pound bailout of the banks has ‘saved 500,000 jobs’.

In an astonishing show of defiance, Mr Darling argued the claim cannot be substantiated and has told the PM to stop repeating it.

The row is the latest sign of a dramatic collapse in confidence in Mr Brown at all levels of the Government’s ranks. His authority suffered a fresh series of blows yesterday as:

• Justice Secretary Jack Straw effectively accused Mr Brown of lying about the Lockerbie bomber row.
• Senior Labour aides said ‘drift and indecision’ inside No10 was compounded by the PM’s ‘agitated state of mind’.
• Labour MPs threatened to mount a new bid to topple him when they return to Parliament next month.

Mr Brown and Mr Darling put on a fleeting public show of unity at the G20 finance meeting in London yesterday, but insiders say that behind closed doors they are barely on speaking terms.

Downing Street sources confirmed yesterday that the Prime Minister had caved in to the Chancellor and would abandon his plan to deny Labour will have to cut spending if it wins the General Election.

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Notes:

Poor Gord.  This is the guy who wanted to be PM so bad he stabbed his boss in the back.  Looks like he got what he wished for and I must say that it looks real good on him.  Somebody should be taking bets on how much longer he lasts (it probably can be measured in days).