Brown “absolutely not” accused of bullying; PR stunt “charity” in touch with Tories

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

UPDATE: Patron of National Bullying Helpline resigns over Mrs Pratt’s behaviour, damning speaking out as “wholly inappropriate”. BullyingUK is “horrified” by NBH’s “confidentiality breach”.

The head of the National Bullying Helpline, which yesterday said it had received calls regarding bullying from staff at Number 10, prompting much speculation in this morning’s newspapers, has now gone on Radio 4’s Today Programme and said Gordon Brown is “absolutely not” accused of bullying or intimidation himself.

The backtrack comes as Christine Pratt also admitted that she’d been in touch with the Tories over her initial claims, who gave her support for her actions yesterday.

Asked if the Conservative Party had been in contact with her over the allegations, Mrs Pratt replied:

“Yes. I have been in touch with them, they have been in contact with us but we are not a political charity, I’m not politically motivated.”

But Adam Bienkov has raised questions that bring that claim into some doubt. Adam writes:

“A quick look at NBH’s website reveals:

* A personal endorsement from Conservative leader David Cameron

* One of their patrons is Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe

* Another patron is Boris Johnson’s Chair of the London Health Authority, Conservative Cllr Mary O’Connor

* They have close ties to Conservative controlled Swindon borough Council.”

Adam continues:

“There are also doubts about whether NBH is actually a functioning charity at all. An even quicker look at the Charity Commission’s register reveals that:

* They are 206 days overdue on registering their accounts.

* They have registered just £852 pounds in expenditure since they were established.”

Paul Waugh at the Evening Standard has said this saga has been a “one woman PR disaster” and said Mrs Pratt’s appearance on Sky News this morning was a “slow-mo car crash.” Others are suggesting this has been a PR stunt, gone badly wrong for the National Bullying Helpline – which, as Adam Bienkov also discovers, appears to be the business arm of a charity, not a charity in itself.

Any claims that bullying is common – or even occasional – at Number 10 should be taken very seriously. But such serious accusations should also be substantiated. I suspect we’ll be hearing more about this throughout the day.