Campbell's diaries edit out Blair's swearing

But if readers expect Alastair Campbell to give an unexpurgated account of the arguments, they will be sorely disappointed.

Mr Blair has persuaded him to remove the multiple prime ministerial F-words and C-words in his forthcoming diaries.

In the censored version of Mr Campbell's time as chief spin doctor at No 10, to be published in July, Mr Blair's stormy relationship with Mr Brown and his dealings with George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war have also been airbrushed from the record.

Detailed accounts of the X-rated altercations between Mr Blair and his Chancellor were deleted to limit the damage to the new Prime Minister in his first weeks in power.

Mr Campbell believes detailing the Blair-Brown wars could harm Labour's chances of defeating David Cameron at the next election.

In fact the censored version is said to contain very little about the Chancellor, and as such makes Peter Mandelson appear 'particularly mad' because it contains out-of-context references to the former Cabinet Minister's criticism of his old foe.

It is thought Mr Campbell will publish the full account in a future edition of the diaries once Mr Brown, too, has left the political scene.

Mr Campbell is expected to earn more than £1million through the publishing deal with Random House and a serialisation with the BBC.

But he toned down his book, The Blair Years, after Downing Street figures expressed dismay that he was rushing into print within days of his former boss leaving office.

A No 10 source said there had been a long-held verbal agreement between senior figures that no diaries would be published until the 'dust had settled' on Mr Blair's time in power.

Mr Blair wanted a 'dignified distance' between his premiership, whcih ends on June 27, and money-spinning book deals by people 'cashing in', including the PM's own memoirs.

"There is a sense that Alastair is jumping the gun and milking his experiences. The irony is that it could now be very tame and will simply be all about Alastair and Tony."

Mr Campbell, who spent nine years at Mr Blair's side, has kept in accounts of his obsessive battles with the media, including his war with the BBC over the David Kelly affair.

He accused the corporation's senior executives of 'unforgivable lying' - making it all the more extraordinary that he has struck a £500,000 deal with the BBC for a three-part dramatic re-creation of his diaries.

Mr Blair's outbursts are part of a vigorous cursing culture in Whitehall.

When given the Health Secretary post in 2003, John Reid famously said: 'Oh f*** no, not health!'.

And Margaret Beckett reportedly said: 'F*** me!' when appointed Foreign Secretary.

The most infamous example of bad language in Whitehall was the outburst from Sir Richard Mottram, permanent secretary at the Department of Transport, after special adviser Jo Moore was revealed to have said that 9/11 was a good day to 'bury' bad news.

Sir Richard said: "We're all f***ed. I'm f***ed. You're f***ed. The whole department's f***ed. It's the biggest cock-up ever and we're all completely f***ed."