Tim Blair

TONY BLAIR seems to have

TONY BLAIR seems to have learned a thing or two lately about the
joy of unilateralism:

The other man who is feeling the force of Mr Blair's new-found assurance is Gordon Brown. The Chancellor used to rely on his ability to squish his kid brother, the Prime Minister. He dominated Mr Blair intellectually and played psychological games with him, such as avoiding meetings or refusing to tell him the contents of his Budgets until the last minute. This dynamic is changing. When the Prime Minister wanted to fix a meeting with the Chancellor some weeks ago, Mr Brown tried to make him come to the Treasury (where the Chancellor sits on a chair much higher than that of his guest, who is immediately cast in the role of supplicant). "No, you come over here," barked Mr Blair down the phone. "I'm the f***ing Prime Minister!"