TONY Blair disappointed him. Gordon Brown was an "incomplete character". As for Peter Mandelson, he was simply "a danger".
Such terms of condemnation are far from unusual in the cruel, knockabout world of politics. More surprising is that they were uttered by Donald Dewar - a man with a reputation for discretion, even a degree of kindness.
The waspish reality behind
Dewar’s gentlemanly public persona is revealed in the diaries of a former Labour backbencher and shadow cabinet member. Giles Radice was a close friend of Dewar and bore witness to his barbed verbal assaults on many of his closest colleagues.
Radice, whose book hits the shelves this autumn, kept a detailed account of the Labour party’s trials and tribulations during his 28 years in the Commons.
As well as giving a novel perspective on the birth of Blairism, Radice has offered one of the freshest insights into the former First Minister’s views on New Labour’s architects.
Radice, now in the Lords, said: "There was so much more to him that the public image and the machine-gun voice, and he was great company. He was gripped by politics and was a great gossip."
The diaries recount conversations between the Labour MP and Dewar in the late 1990s, before and after Labour’s landslide 1997 victory.
"As for Blair," writes Radice in 1998, "he [Dewar] is more critical than I expected, although one has to remember that Donald had a close relationship with Gordon Brown."
Radice then quotes Dewar as telling him: "Blair is not as good a PM as I thought he would be."
Radice adds in his diary entry: "He [Dewar] says that Cabinet government is not really working and that even Cabinet committees are not all that important. ‘The Blair government is mostly government by bilateral meeting’ - and he means the meetings between Blair and Brown.
"He is a bit worried by Blair’s authoritarianism. He always wants, according to Donald, to discipline or get rid of people."
Radice writes in the diary how Dewar had told him about Blair’s lack of enthusiasm for devolution. "He thinks that Tony is not really in favour of devolution," Radice records.
And Blair’s successes in negotiating the Northern Ireland peace process are met with equal guardedness.
"As for Blair’s agenda, he [Dewar] is impressed by his success in Northern Ireland, though he says that it has been achieved in part by ‘giving in to the IRA’."
As early as 1996, when Dewar was the party’s chief whip, Radice writes about how Dewar had told him of his reservations about Blair’s team.
"Sometimes Tony and his so-called advisers frighten even me," Dewar is quoted as saying.
The late First Minister was more taken with his fellow Scot, Brown. He told Radice that Brown was the "finest mind in British politics."
But, Radice adds: "He does, however, accept that Gordon is an ‘incomplete character’ and that his desire to control everybody is much encouraged by his entourage."
Equally of interest are Dewar’s acid observations of Robin Cook. Radice writes: "He agrees that, if Cook were now [Scottish] Labour leader there would be a strong possibility that he would back independence."
By way of explanation, Dewar is then quoted as saying of Cook: "He hates not being top dog." Radice added last night: "There was never a chance that Cook was going to be the top man in Scotland because Donald was the man that Tony trusted. He was also the one with the experience. I think he didn’t trust Cook."
Moving on, Dewar makes a highly prescient warning about Peter Mandelson, claiming that Mandelson’s taste for the high life was a ‘danger’ to the government.
It was not long afterwards that Mandelson was forced to resign for the first time, after failing to declare a loan he received from Labour millionaire Geoffrey Robinson.
Dewar was equally caustic about former Minister for Social Security Frank Field. "He was... delighted that Frank Field had gone. ‘He was a walking disaster,’ says Donald."
Radice, the former MP for Durham North, is one of the most prominent figures within the Labour party over the past three decades.
A Labour moderniser, he first met Dewar in 1970 and remained firm friends with his Scottish colleague throughout.
Dewar, he said, was one of the few good friends he had in politics. "He was sardonic, acerbic and very frank in private. He had a big hinterland; you could talk to him about anything; from Scottish history to literature and art.
"But politics was his life. He was a lovely man - someone of real integrity and quality."
After becoming First Minister in 1999, Dewar had spoken to Radice about how dismayed he was with the hostility to devolution within the Scottish media.
"He was taken aback by the negativity of the press. It surprised him a lot. Once he became First Minister he hadn’t really bargained on the fact that the Scottish press were going to run against him." said Radice.
ebarnes@scotlandonsunday.com 