Blair's secret plan to scrap Treasury - papers 9 May

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Tony Blair planned to divide Gordon Brown's fiefdom of the Treasury into two after the 2005 election under proposals drawn up in intense secrecy for the prime minister, reports The Guardian.

The idea was fleshed out in a 200-page document prepared for Mr Blair by his strategy adviser, Lord Birt; the head of the No 10 strategy unit at the time, David Halpern; and another senior No 10 aide, Gareth Davies. Had the plan gone ahead, Mr Brown may have been asked to move to the Foreign Office. It was abandoned when political advisers told Mr Blair voters wanted him to cooperate with his chancellor. The scale of the plans to split the Treasury has been one of the most closely guarded secrets of Mr Blair's tenure and its disclosure, on the eve of his announcement about when he will ...

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