Minor retinal tears in PM's eye

Mr Brown lost the sight in his left eye in a rugby accident

Eyesight tests have found Gordon Brown has two minor tears in his retina but he will not be undergoing further operations, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister lost the sight in his left eye in a teenage accident.

A spokesman said Mr Brown had an annual eye check in the summer which was fine, and later had his retina examined.

Surgeons found that the retina had two minor tears, but there was no further deterioration in his sight. Another check-up on Friday found no change.

"Yesterday Mr Brown visited Moorfields Hospital as part of regular checks on his eyes and this check was also fine," Downing Street said.

"Mr Brown wants to thank the doctors and staff of the NHS particularly Moorfields Hospital. Were there to be any change, he would of course make a further statement."

A spokesman said the details of the tests had been released in the interests of "transparency".

TV interviews

The statement comes after speculation over the prime minister's health.

In a US TV interview last month he was forced to deny suggestions he was slowly going blind.

He was asked by NBC anchor Brian Williams if his other eye was now failing, but insisted: "My sight is not at all deteriorating."

A few days later, ahead of the Labour conference, Mr Brown was asked the same question by the BBC's Andrew Marr, and again denied there was a problem.

Mr Brown was diagnosed with a detached retina at the age of 16 - the result of a rugby injury. He eventually lost the sight in the eye and retained just 30% of his vision in the other.

On the Andrew Marr show, he recalled: "I had to have a very big operation to deal with that and every year, of course, I have to check - as I did only a few days ago - that my eyesight is good.

"There has been absolutely no deterioration in my eyesight. I think people should be absolutely clear that although I had problems with my eyes and it has been very difficult over the years, I think people understand that you can do a job and you can work hard.

"I think it would be a terrible indictment of a political system if people thought because you had this medical condition, you couldn't do a job."