Peter Stothard on "Gordon MaCavity"

Gordon Brown's hopes of using his final Budget speech to smooth his path into No 10 were dealt a devastating blow today after a retired Whitehall mandarin accused him of running the Treasury with "Stalinist ruthlessness" and treating Cabinet colleagues with "more or less complete contempt".

The remarks by Lord Turnbull, Permanent Secretary at the Treasury from 1988 to 2002, were made in an interview with the Financial Times which, he said today, he had understood to be a background chat on which he would not be quoted verbatim.

But the comparison of Britain's Iron Chancellor with Josef Stalin, the Soviet Union's Man of Steel, brought chuckles of recognition across Westminster and appeared to have presented the Tories with an open goal for tomorrow's Budget debate.

Expert View

David Cameron and George Osborne will be rubbing their hands in glee at this coming just the day before the Budget - Andrew Turnbull has written their script for them

Philip Webster

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Lord Turnbull told the newspaper that Mr Brown had a "very cynical view of mankind and his colleagues... He cannot allow them any serious discussion about priorities. His view is that it is just not worth it and ‘they will get what I decide’. And that is a very insulting process."

He added: "Do those ends justify the means? It has enhanced Treasury control, but at the expense of any government cohesion and any assessment of strategy. You can choose whether you are impressed or depressed by that but you cannot help admire the sheer Stalinist ruthlessness."

In times gone by, Mr Brown might have taken the remarks as a grudging compliment to the political skills that have allowed him to transform the Treasury from holder of Whitehall's purse-strings to its most feared institution.

But not now. With Tony Blair due to leave office in the next few months, Mr Brown is in the final straight of a marathon slog to succeed him and Lord Turnbull's criticisms can only help David Cameron's Conservatives question his fitness to take over.

Mr Brown is likely to be especially piqued by Lord Turnbull's quip that he had a "Macavity quality about him" and was "not there when there was dirty work to be done" - a reference to T.S Elliot's "Mystery Cat" who was always gone by the time Scotland Yard got to the scene of a crime.

Mr Brown's management style has long been the subject of complaint from Treasury officials and Cabinet colleagues frustrated at his high-handedness.

It is the first time, however, such a high ranking and respected official has openly attacked the Chancellor in public. After serving Mr Brown, Sir Andrew Turnbull went on to become head of the Civil Service as Cabinet Secretary from 2002 to 2005.

In a statement today, Lord Turnbull said that he had not expected to be quoted by the newspaper, and admitted that the language he used was not appropriate for publication.

"The FT article does not give a balanced account of my views nor of the conversation I had with the FT which covered a much wider range of issues," he said.

"I am on record - eg in my Valedictory Lecture in July 2005 - as praising both the successful management of UK economic policy and the outcomes achieved.

"My remarks to the FT about the way Government business is transacted were not made with the intention or expectation that they would be quoted verbatim nor, I acknowledge, were they expressed in language appropriate for that purpose."

Mr Brown's supporters rushed to defend him this morning against the accusation that he rode roughshod over his ministerial colleagues. Some said that the problem was not Mr Brown's political leadership, but the Civil Service's refusal to embrace change.

Among those speaking out was Harriet Harman, the Constitutional Affairs Minister, who is running for the deputy leadership and backs the Chancellor to succeed Mr Blair.

"I can only talk from my own personal experience of working with Gordon for over 25 years, and he does listen," Ms Harman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "He is very demanding of colleagues, but he’s also demanding of himself because he’s in politics to change things for the better."

She added: "I think if you want to make change for the better then you do have to have strong political leadership."

John McFall, chairman of the influential Treasury Select Committee and Labour MP for West Dunbartonshire, also weighed into the debate. "I see GB as a 24-hour-a-day politician... actually I think government has to be ruthless in terms of getting delivery," he said "In the end, Whitehall can’t deliver. The Civil Service is good at plodding along with the status quo, but when they are asked to change things they can’t change."

The Tories were predictably jubilant, especially when figures released this morning showed that the Retail Price Index - for many householders the most meaningful measure of inflation - had risen to 4.6 per cent, its highest level since August 1991.

"With inflation rising, our 15-point poll lead, Andrew Turnbull's devastating criticism and junior doctors on the march, this is turning out to be the week from hell for Gordon Brown - and he's got no-one to blame but himself," said George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor.

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