Gordon Brown feared losing his sight as PM

Gordon Brown has admitted in his new autobiography that he feared losing his sight completely while serving as Prime Minister.

The former Labour leader was left blind in one eye after suffering a retinal detachment while playing rugby as a schoolboy and was forced to have surgery to save the vision in his right eye.

Writing in his memoirs, the politician recalls a morning in 2009 when he woke up with ‘foggy’ vision and was forced to deliver an impromptu speech when visiting the City Academy in Hackney as he could not read his notes.

Following the event, Brown explained he was rushed to Moorfields Eye Hospital. However, the 66-year-old was prevented from going into theatre by his former surgeon, Hector Chawla, who explained that the operation would be too risky.