IT was one of the least attractive aspects of the Blair decade in power – New Labour’s apparent obsession with “spin”.

In striving to tame the monster of 24-hour news, and negate the traditionally Tory-dominated press, Tony Blair’s administration went too far in seeking to regurgitate the good news and bury the bad.

When Gordon Brown assumed control, hopes were high that it would mark an end to that shadowy era of spin, of which we’d all had enough.

But the resignation of one of Mr Brown’s closest aides, after details emerged of smear stories against Tory opponents, is a serious blow to efforts to leave the past behind.

Damian McBride quit after admitting sending “juvenile and inappropriate”

emails from his Downing Street account to former spin doctor Derek Draper, in which they discussed setting up an “attack blog” to spread unfounded gossip about Tories, including David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne.

On top of the ongoing controversy over MPs’ expenses, this embarrassing episode further undermines public confidence in our political system.

It is much more than “juvenile and inappropriate”, it is seedy and sinister, with clear suggestions that the stories were to be part of a long-term “sequence” of smears.

At the very least, it brings into question the judgement of Damian McBride, a man very close to government, in committing such damaging suggestions to email.

And, inevitably, that also has implications for the judgement of Gordon Brown, who has trusted Mr McBride since his days at the Treasury.