Ex-aide denies hand-over deal

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Former No 10 spin doctor Alastair Campbell said Mr Blair insisted there was no deal between the pair.

But asked whether he thought Mr Blair was honest about the succession issue with Mr Brown, or whether events changed things, he told GQ magazine: "I know Tony thought about this alone, and clearly Gordon was in the mix. But I think Tony lost his nerve."

Mr Campbell denied that Mr Brown was "shafted", saying: "The idea that two guys could sit around in 1995 and one say to the other, 'I'll be leader then you take over after the next election' - I mean, the world doesn't work like that. Tony is very good at... er... politics."

He told interviewer Piers Morgan: "I would ask Tony if he had done a deal with Gordon and he would say 'no'."

Mr Campbell told the magazine that one of the former Prime Minister's big regrets was not taking Britain into the euro.

Asked what Mr Blair's biggest regret was, he said: "Possibly that we didn't do enough, or do it fast enough, in our first term. Particularly in relation to public service reform. I don't think he regrets Iraq."

But he added: "Talking about regrets then I think Blair would regret not taking Britain into the euro." Mr Campbell insisted that "long-term" Mr Blair would be remembered fondly.

Mr Campbell, who resigned in 2003, said the Blair/Brown relationship was "exasperating".

He said: "Tony never talked him (Brown) down. And nor did I. Maybe some of our people did, but it was never under orders."