ALASTAIR Campbell and Peter Mandelson were accused of staging a “Blairite coup” at the heart of the campaign for a second referendum.
Secret emails reportedly show the pair plotted against Roland Rudd, the millionaire boss of Open Britain, part of the People’s Vote campaign.
Mr Rudd — the brother of former cabinet minister Amber Rudd — has quit amid the bitter civil war.
In one email Lord Mandelson said: “We need to pin down Roland’s slipperiness.”
And he suggested trawling through private emails to expose him, the Mail on Sunday said.
In another, Mr Campbell called for a “fast and brutal” battle.
One ally of Mr Rudd told the paper: “What Mandelson’s mob are trying to do — mount a Blairite coup — is futile, based on a tired playbook from 1997.
“Roland writes all the cheques and has all the vital electoral data. They need him.”
The in-fighting at the heart of the campaign comes in a crunch week for Brexit.
A spokesman for the People’s Vote said: “All of us on this campaign, frankly, have better things to do than worry about who chairs the Open Britain board.”
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