Will "friends" of Gordon play nicer in 2008?

It was meant to be the year that spin ended. Yet sources, friends, allies and aides of Gordon Brown all appear to have had a busy year putting the record straight on his behalf. Will this trademark briefing continue in 2008 or will, as Tessa Jowell has pleaded, Mr Brown now change his style? Here, lifted from the political news stories of the past year or more, are some choice attack quotes and demolition jobs that were reported to have come from the shadowy people who surround Gordon Brown.

December 19, 2007 "Mervyn King has become the source of intense irritation among senior Treasury and Downing Street insiders over his public comments on the Northern Rock crisis."

November 28, 2007 "Senior Labour figures were last night mounting a whispering campaign against Miss Harman. Some believe she spent more than her rivals in the race for the deputy's post, which she won by 0.8 per cent from Alan Johnson."

November 24, 2007 "The Prime Minister, our source added, was "deeply frustrated by [Mervyn] King's behaviour."

November 19, 2007 "Commenting on Mr Miliband, a Labour source told the Daily Mail: 'There's a feeling around that he's trying to rerun his leadership campaign and, fairly disgracefully, destabilise Gordon Brown. His friends believe he'll be in a stronger position if he distances himself from Mr Brown when he's in trouble. David should remember that he could have stood against Gordon in the spring. He had his chance and he didn't take it because he knew he would have been murdered politically.'"

November 19, 2007 "Brownites undoubtedly still resent [David Miliband], a Blairite who thought long and hard about standing against their man for Labour leader in the summer. Mr Brown has no desire to unsettle Mr Miliband at this time, his close advisers say."

November 18, 2007 "In July a No 10 official was dispatched to chide Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, for agreeing to a Today programme interview in advance of an official announcement, which would have broken Brown's edict that Parliament, not the media, should be informed of decisions first. Unfortunately in this case it turned out that Brown had misheard the radio announcer and it was in fact an interview with Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent, who had just been released after four months as a hostage in Gaza."

November 3, 2007 "Downing Street sources have indicated that Gerry Sutcliffe's criticism of Premier League wages and ticket prices went down badly with Gordon Brown, who is thought to have been annoyed by both the timing and substance of his argument. 'This needs a more sensible debate. One of the reasons the Premier League is such a success is that it attracts the best players, and the market dictates that they will receive the best wages. With hindsight, Gerry Sutcliffe might have put things differently'"

October 26, 2007 "Proposals for councils to impose rubbish taxes on householders who do not recycle properly have been shelved after a last-minute intervention from Gordon Brown. Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State, had been expected to announce today that the Government was 'minded' to approve the new taxes of up to £30 a year. Officials were preparing today's announcement and learnt at about 6pm that it was not going ahead. 'A message came from Downing Street that they should not proceed,' an informed source said."

June 27, 2007 Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister

May 17, 2007 "The Treasury distanced itself from Downing Street by disclosing that its lawyers were examining the new language. After a few hours, sources close to Mr Brown made clear that he believed the French alteration was 'unacceptable' and had to be changed.

May 11, 2007 "Labour spin-doctors attempted to put a gloss on the [local election] results by claiming that they were not as bad as feared. But Mr Brown's allies fear he will be handed a poisoned chalice."

May 7, 2007 "Friends of Mr Brown yesterday suggested Mr Reid had stepped down because he was set to be demoted in the next government."

March 21, 2007 "Friends poured scorn on Lord Turnbull [the former Permanent Secretary who accused Brown of being like Stalin] as an embittered ex-official who was never highly rated and was kept out of the Chancellor's inner circle."

March 4, 2007 "Friends of Mr Brown hit out at the website, saying Mr Milburn and Mr Clarke had 'stolen' the Chancellor's plans for a policy renewal campaign called '20-20 Britain.'"

February 4, 2007 "Sources close to Mr Brown admit, however, that Labour had got itself 'in a rut' over Iraq, with the Government hampered in the pursuit of other foreign policy goals by its commitment to the occupation."

January 7, 2007 "Mr Brown's allies insist a long period of leadership transition is only just beginning. 'People will be interested in the theatre of Brown's meetings with (President George W.) Bush,' says one aide. 'But by the time we get to No 10, America will be six months away from the primaries to elect the next President.'"

October 31, 2006 "Sources close to Mr Brown poured cold water on large sections of the [Stern Report on climate change]. Though the Chancellor is not ruling out new green taxes, they said, he intended to focus on 'making a difference globally'."

September 10, 2006 "Gordon Brown's allies last night suggested that drink may have played a part in Charles Clarke's extraordinary attack on the Chancellor when he accused him of being a deluded control freak with psychological problems. Friends of Mr Brown have seized on the former Home Secretary's latest interview, in which he delivered a devastating assessment of the Labour leadership favourite, while clutching 'a glass of red wine in his hand'." 

April 2006 "Friends of Mr Brown say Mr Prescott is 'no longer intrinsic' to the handover of power from Mr Blair."

July 2006 "At one stage this weekend, sources close to Mr Brown referred to their counterparts in Mr Blair's camp as madmen."

Sources: The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mirror, Scotsman