The PM, his press secretary and the 'whingeing jocks'

TONY Blair's difficult relationship with the country of his birth has been laid bare in the diaries of his former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, in extracts which dismiss the country's journalists as "whingeing Jocks".

Those who believe the former prime minister had a problem with Scotland yesterday had their theories bolstered with the official publication of The Blair Years.

The book reveals a secret dinner with Gordon Brown during which Mr Blair warns his Chancellor that he will back him as his successor, but only if he is not made to feel he is "forced out" of No 10.

But also buried in the diaries of Mr Blair's former press secretary is a remarkably frank analysis of the dread the Labour leader felt when dealing with matters north of the Border and the Scottish media. Campbell moans in an entry for 1995 that he and Mr Blair were portrayed as "ultra-English", when in fact "we are Scottish in so many ways".

"He was born there and his dad is a Scot," he writes. "My blood is 100 per cent Scots, I play the bagpipes and followed the football team to World Cups."

He then recounts a conversation between Mr Brown and Mr Blair, when the prime minister is sarcastic about Scots' high expectations. "TB said to him he'd had a day full of whingeing Jock journos saying they wanted devolution and they wanted no tax and they wanted Scotland to get more money and they wanted to win the World Cup and why was I stopping them?"

Later, Campbell writes of another visit by Mr Blair: "Scotland, as ever, was a disaster waiting to happen."

He blames The Scotsman for hijacking Mr Blair on a story about his devolution policies, when during an interview Mr Blair compares the powers he wants to give to the proposed Scottish Parliament to those of a parish council.

The story, which sparked a furore north and south of the Border, was triggered by Tony Blair's remarks that sovereignty would remain at Westminster.

Although The Scotsman's journalists had told aides ahead of the interview that Mr Blair would be asked about the "West Lothian" question, Alastair Campbell still lamented the "disastrous" interview.

Mr Blair was ruling out the use of the tax-varying powers but defended them, saying that "once the power is given it's like the smallest English parish council, it's got the right to exercise it".

Other media seized on the "parish council" comparison and Mr Blair was dogged by the issue the next morning.

The book, published yesterday, lays bare the "truth" behind whether the former prime minister considered himself English or Scottish. Although Mr Blair was born in Edinburgh and educated at Fettes College, he has always insisted that he was "British", not choosing between English or Scottish.

Campbell wrote: "There is a 'culture of grievance' element to all the media, but the Jocks have it with knobs on. I also think there is something in both me and TB they find irritating, in that we are both Scottish in many ways, yet they view us as ultra-English."

Campbell also strays into the area of football - the spin doctor reveals he had no qualms about backing anyone but England during football clashes.

During the Euro 96 semi-final with Germany, Campbell was secretly cheering on Germany. "I had never really supported England, and, for political reasons I found myself rooting privately for Germany, though as I was sitting next to one of JM's [John Major's] bodyguards, even though he was a Scot, I pretended to be backing England. It was one of the most incredible matches I have ever seen." He continues that Mr McConnell looked "ashen".

"Just as we had been worrying, however irrationally, about the political benefits to him of England winning, so a part of him must have been banking on this. He looked pretty sick and the atmosphere at the back of the royal box was not great. I tried not to let my happiness show as we walked to the car. Once we got in, I said, 'Yesss' and shook my fist. Tony Blair said, 'Could you save any celebrations until you got home?'. I said, 'don't pretend you feel any different'."

OPENING DOOR ON TENSION AT NO 10

DESPITE claiming he censored the juiciest bits, Alastair Campbell's diaries go some way to hint about the tension between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

In one extract from December 2001, Mr Campbell reveals how Mr Blair had dinner with the Chancellor and tells him "he still believed he was easily the best person to follow him but he was not going to support him in circumstances where he felt he was being forced out".

Other revelations include a row with Cardinal Winning, the Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow over the Labour Party's refusal to have an anti-abortion stand at its party conference in 1995.

Cardinal Winning had taken a "big blast" at the then Labour leader. An entry in February that year said the pair ruled out retaliating for fear of inflaming religious sensitivities in Scotland: "The attack was pretty heavy and TB was livid. He said he couldn't stand it when churchmen played politics like this, especially as TB had been trying to sort this out. His first reaction was to demand a right to reply but he agreed to take soundings - did he really want a Blair v Catholic Church row raging throughout Scotland just as we were coming up to Scottish conference." Mr Campbell also had misgivings about Mr Blair's close relationship with Michael (now Lord) Levy, his fund-raiser and Middle East envoy, ten years before the cash-for-honours allegations surfaced.

ON THE SCOTSMAN

THE SCOTSMAN is mentioned five times in Alastair Campbell's diaries, mostly as a source of irritation for scuppering the spin doctor's best-laid plans.

In 1995, Mr Campbell advises the then Labour leader to contain his "antagonism" towards the Scottish press ahead of giving an interview with The Scotsman.

Mr Campbell said both he and Mr Blair were their own worst enemies, winding each other up about the Scottish press. Ahead of the 1997 election, the spin doctor laments granting The Scotsman an interview with the future prime minister. His remarks comparing the Scottish Parliament to a parish council provoked an uproar. He proceeds to blame himself for agreeing to The Scotsman interview. The Conservatives had also seized on the article.

Then in 1998, The Scotsman ran an article by Paul Routledge, author of a biography of Gordon Brown, insisting it was authorised by the chancellor himself. This triggered ructions at No 10, as the book had outlined the pact made between Mr Blair and Mr Brown. Until then, Downing Street had instructed spin doctors to claim that it was unauthorised. But Mr Routledge went on to tell The Scotsman that Nick Brown, the former chief whip and ally of the chancellor, was a key source for the book.