GORDON BROWN is today accused of sacrificing the most senior official in the Labour party for personal political advantage in a devastating account of the “brutal” culture he presides over at No 10.

Peter Watt, Labour’s former general secretary, has spoken out with the aim of demolishing any residual claim by the prime minister to the moral high ground.

“Publicly, Gordon talks about values and his moral compass, but actually the way he conducts himself behind the scenes is anything but that - it’s brutal,” said Watt, who played a pivotal role in the handover of power from Tony Blair to Brown.

His intervention comes a month after The Sunday Times disclosed the existence of a smear operation run from Downing Street by Damian McBride to punish particular government ministers and destabilise the Tories.

Watt was cleared last week by the Crown Prosecution Service over a scandal involving donations to Labour through third parties. He faced charges of breaking electoral law after signing off £600,000 in donations from David Abrahams, a property tycoon, through proxies. He claims that Brown:

- Telephoned him to commiserate when he resigned, promising to “look after” him, but betrayed him within 24 hours by falsely suggesting that he had broken the law, triggering a police inquiry.

- Misled the public about the “election that never was”, the incident that shattered Brown’s reputation as a strong leader. “No matter what anyone says, the election had been called and was then cancelled. We had been working on it for weeks. We spent £1.2m in immediate preparations,” Watt said.

- Seized power by waging a highly personal campaign “designed to cause maximum damage to Tony” and force him out of No 10.

Watt, who with his young family has lived in the shadow of police investigation for the past 18 months, claimed he was just one of many loyal aides “hung out to dry” by Brown. “This is Gordon’s politics: when things go wrong you find someone to blame,” he said.

As general secretary for two years, Watt, 39, held a position at the heart of the party machine, attending most political cabinet meetings and speaking privately at least once a week to the prime minister.

He said that Brown and Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour party, were both worried that the donor story was going to damage them. “There was huge pressure for someone to take the rap. I knew at that point that elected politicians were going to dive for cover. There was no way Gordon or Harriet were going to stand by me. They made a choice that I, at that point, was expendable.”

Once Watt was falsely accused by Brown of breaking the law, one of his daughters was bullied at school and his mother, who had been widowed three months before, struggled to cope. Watt added: “It was classic Gordon politics.”

Although Watt resigned over the affair, he always insisted he had carried out proper checks, accepting the money from Abrahams in good faith.

He was one of a small group of Labour figures intimately involved in the handover talks between Blair and Brown at a time when relations between the two men were “dire”.

He revealed that Blair was ready to quit almost a year before he stood down: “[Blair] said, if they [the party] want me to go, I’ll go now. Tony was a leader in a way that Gordon Brown isn’t. Like every good leader he had an instinct.”

Watt was also closely involved in planning for the “election that never was” in autumn 2007. “No matter what anyone says, the election had been called and was then cancelled,” Watt said.

Watt insists he is not bitter. He remains a party member and makes regular donations. “I don’t want to be a victim. I’ve come through this fine and my family are okay,” he said.

“I’m proud I took responsibility for what happened on my watch. But I don’t believe politics should be conducted like this.”

For a personal account of the donor row by David Abrahams, click here

Times Recommends

• Charles blazes trail as sun king
• Thalidomiders win payout 50 years on
• Libel gag on talk of 'medical hurricane'