But I have sympathy. Why would anyone do politics unless that were wealthy. That’s my point. It’s broken. Left or right. Maybe billionaire trump saves us.
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It’s astonishing looking at the UK from afar.
Just how quickly lying became normalised, with scandal after scandal week after week. To the extent where crisis and problems were manufactured to distract from the latest scandal. Directly lifted from Trump playbook. Things in a normal world would have been sackable offences or brought down governments, laughed off. Ahh Boris being Boris !! Fraud, corruption, porn, bullying, mistakes that killed people, not even above blaming the dead ! The constant undermining of democratic norms, the erosion of standards in public life became the new normal. What was once considered outrageous behaviour for a politician gradually became accepted as routine, fundamentally shifting expectations of governmental conduct and accountability.
I would love to say what we are seeing now is a return to the norm. But there is a certain absurdity in people getting upset over a CV something of no material consequence beyond if she is a truthful politician. Which isn’t just like the pot calling the kettle black. It’s more akin to Putin taking the moral high ground because his opponent got a parking ticket.
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I wonder why he has changed his mind 
The Prince of Darkness pays homage to his liege, the Lord of Darkness.
“I think times and attitudes towards the president have changed since then and I have been impressed, not just by the extraordinary second mandate that he has received from the American people, but the dynamism and energy with which he approached not just the campaign but government as well.”
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Probably because it isn’t a great idea for any prominent politician to call the President of the USA a cunt.
We can, though.
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The most pathetic thing about Mandelson’s volte-face is the fact that it will probably work.
In terms of how this looks for him personally… 
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And we can also call Mandelson a cunt
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I can accept that some politicians have to use diplomatic language when referring to unsavoury foreign politicians, but there is no need to kowtow to them. I find the number of Mitläufer in the US repulsive. There is no need for them anywhere else.
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Just waiting until Keir wears a bomber jacket at camp david and says he uses the same toothpaste as trump.
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Wonderful long-form article. Highly recommend.
Should be free if you haven’t clicked on any other articles this month!!
I don’t know much about Mandelson, but given the shining way in which this forum talks about him almost unanimously…
Yeah I’m sure it shifts the needle a lot.
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This is how he was presented on Spitting Image in the 1990s, along with a fresh-faced, pre-war crime Tony Blair:
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Damm blair looks like milner there
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What did Milner ever do to you???
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Mandelson seems to be an intelligent and successful person. Has a very good reputation of building relationships, which is probably why Starmer has turned to him.
However….there are a lot of rumours, stories, suggestions, etc. which I am sure a lot of you would call foul if it was a Tory.
Enron links
Dubious history with Russian Oligarchs
Links with Jeffery Epstein
Co-founder and president of Global Counsel
Prominent voice in Labour’s decision for a bigger/louder Millennium Dome
Concerned with posting links to RW media, I will let you do your own research and form your own opinion.
Personally, I believe he is a good choice and will be successful. Experienced in the art of creating diplomatic relationships, worked for the EU as Trade Commissioner, not afraid of ruffling a few feathers and most importantly would demand respect, a voice that would be listened to by Delegates on both sides of the pond.
The word “shining” was sarcastic. I didn’t think I needed to make that explicit…
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He is universally despised here in NI, which is a unique enough achievement.
Followed Mo Mowlam as SoS. Most people loved her and there’s even a park named after her. I know a few people who met Mandelson and say he is every bit the odious little weasel that he appears to be, and more
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Not great news for Liverpool today…
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That new runway at Heathrow wont pay for itself.
Good article. I am not aiming this post at you directly, just piggy backing onto it as it is an important topic.
I have only read through it quickly but a concern I had with it, which I think the article alludes to is that this isn’t the 1st time a Government has tried to close the divide and failed. The article references Edward Heath suggesting in 1940 the importance to close the gap and since 1945, when Labour were voted into Government as one of its radical policies we are no further forward as a Country.
My concern - please be assured that this is not a Labour post and that I appreciate that they are very early into their Term - is that the decision to remove the VAT exemption on Private Schools is seen as a bit of a media piece ‘We are delivering change’ and ‘we are investing in state schools’ but deflecting from the fact that there is no plan in place.
As I have said I am not being critical of Labour here, the Schools/Education system in the UK is a massive mess through various Governments failures to understand the importance of investing in the future minds, for the benefit of the Countries long terms future.
The monies needed to have an impact are frightening. For example the article states that by removing the 80% Tax exemption, it is expected to raise £1.5bn a year for the exchequer to help invest in Schools.
All well and good but taken from;
“What does this money mean for my child’s school?
The additional £2 billion will mean that a typical primary school with 200 pupils can expect to receive around an extra £35,000 in funding.
A typical secondary school with 900 pupils would receive an additional £200,000.
Schools can choose how they spend the additional funding, for example, on staffing, classroom materials, or other running costs.”
I appreciate that the Gov.UK link is not in direct response to the Tax exemption, I’ve used it to put into perspective what £1.5bn will get you.
In my opinion, this is not a Labour/Tory problem it is above that. In order to fix the education system you need a long term PLAN, which is decided by and reviewed regularly by a cross party committee. It becomes a policy which is committed to, irrelevant of Government and with a funding that is to be committed to at a % over inflation.
My bad. I do apologise for not having given my time to read the history of this thread and familiarise myself with the feelings of its patrons, in order have understood the context of your post. Maybe, if you had “,” shining in your original post, it would have made your use of sarcasm much clearer and also would have saved you the time and energy to include it in your condescending response.
In order to save myself some time, the above post is me being sarcastic…