Blair-Brown relationship hits all-time low

Rumours abounded yesterday that the long-running and dysfunctional relationship between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair had become fractured beyond repair after it emerged that the Chancellor had made an unprecedented nearly-positive remark about the Prime Minister as part of a speech.

Speaking to the Progressive Consensus Forum at a Labour Party fringe event, Brown spent the first seven hours on all the usual boring economic stuff no-one understands before astounding those gathered by referring by name to his Downing Street neighbour while outlining his helpful role in carrying Brown's papers to meetings and bringing him cups of coffee.

There was later confusion about exactly he had said. Several witnesses insist that Brown really did say: "Tony Blair is not bad." However, a Treasury aide insisted the phrase had actually only been: "Tony Blair is not all bad."

There was no record of that sentence in the published text later released to the press and entitled The Progressive Consensus: A 50 Year Plan, and subtitled Brown — The New Black.

Either way, observers are wondering at the reason for the massive change of emphasis from Brown with the consensus being that things must be pretty bad between the pair if he's having to say anything nice about the PM.

Informed commentators have universally declared that even mild praise such as this must presage a savage falling-out. "That's it?" gasped Ross Finger of The Rockall Times' long-time rival Asian Hotties. "If Gordon's praising Tony then things really must have hit rock-bottom."

Previously

• Cabinet sex scandal rocks Westminster
• Blair vows to fight on
• Blair and Brown reconciled on internet