George Bush and Tony Blair secretly 'plotted' to stop Gordon Brown becoming PM

According to the Telegraph, Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, tried to prolong his time as Prime Minister because there were concerns coming from across the Atlantic that Gordon Brown was very difficult to deal with.

The White House warnings, the Sunday Telegraph published this morning, played a key role in Mr Blair’s attempt to cling on to power until at least 2008, and to groom David Miliband as his successor.


Senior officials within the Bush administration sounded warnings after Brown met with then secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. Brown is said to have 'harangued' her over policy issues such as aid, development and Africa. 

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Ol' Rupe wants White House to pay up on Wall Street Journal coverage

Rupert Murdoch's newly acquired Wall Street Journal may offer the world's greatest coverage of the banana museum industry, but nobody would think of paying $600,000 for such timely information.

That won't stop Murdoch, who has just jacked up the price his company is charging the White House to clip news from the paper, Politico reports.

It's unclear how Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation - WSJ's parent company - arrived at the figure of $600,000.

"But copyright laws," reports Politico, "would prevent the news-clipping service from widely disseminating Wall Street Journal articles without the parent company''s permission. [Politico]

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Rahm Emanuel calling it quits this year?

British newspaper, The Telegraph, has reported speculation that the White House's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, may be resigning from his position by the end of this year with reasons related to "frustrations" regarding the inner circle of President Obama. Or is it just that he lost the waterfight?

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