FURIOUS CLARKE IN No10 MUTINY; REVEALED: How Blair Came Back from the White House to Find Brown and Straw Had Mounted a Coup on Europe

Byline: SIMON WALTERS

ONE of Tony Blair's most senior Ministers turned on the Prime Minister and accused him of destroying voters' trust in an extraordinary Cabinet mutiny over Europe.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke's stand-up row with Mr Blair was part of a split which saw Cabinet members tearing into each other after the Premier's shock pledge last week to hold a referendum on the EU constitution.

All the holders of the main offices of state have become embroiled in the infighting, with Home Secretary David Blunkett accusing Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of 'treachery' in ganging up with Chancellor Gordon Brown to 'bounce' Mr Blair into the announcement without consulting other Cabinet members.

The row first exploded on Monday when, after being told of the Blair U-turn on Europe by Mr Straw in a …

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Publication information: Article title: FURIOUS CLARKE IN No10 MUTINY; REVEALED: How Blair Came Back from the White House to Find Brown and Straw Had Mounted a Coup on Europe. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Mail on Sunday (London, England). Publication date: April 25, 2004. Page number: 1. © 2009 Solo Syndication Limited. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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