GORDON BROWN has added to the pressure on Tony Blair to speak out over the execution of Saddam Hussein, saying that the botched hanging was “deplorable”.

The chancellor’s views echo those of John Prescott and will renew calls for the prime minister to condemn the way in which the execution was handled.

Blair refused to comment after returning from holiday in Miami, simply saying he backed the Iraqi inquiry into a leaked video showing Saddam’s death.

Downing Street said Prescott’s comments — in which he described the manner of the execution as “quite deplorable” — were his personal views.

Even George W Bush said last week that he wished the proceedings had “gone in a more dignified way”.

Brown’s intervention comes in a new year interview on Sunday AM on BBC1, in a slot usually reserved for the prime minister.

In the wide-ranging interview at the start of a year in which Brown hopes to make it to No 10, the chancellor sets out his priorities for his premiership, focusing largely on education.

“Every parent wants more opportunities and more chances for their child than they had themselves,” Brown says.

Education is vital to the economy, will take “pride of place” in his government and is his “passion”, he says.

Meanwhile, David Cameron, the Tory leader, today issues a strong attack on Brown’s 10 years as chancellor. Cameron is preparing for a year in which he will go head-to-head with his near certain opposite number at the next general election.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Cameron says a “darker reality” lies behind Brown’s boasts about the economy: “The cost of living makes it harder and harder for working people to make ends meet.”

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