Category Archives: Peter Mandelson

‘You’ve got to be joking’: Mandelson dismisses prospect of UK rejoining EU

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Labour peer says there is little desire among voters for a referendum and in Brussels for renegotiations

Peter Mandelson has dismissed the prospect of an incoming Labour government taking Britain back into the EU, saying “you’ve got to be joking” that Brussels would want to renegotiate the UK’s membership.

The Labour peer, a former EU trade commissioner and close adviser to Keir Starmer, said rejoining the 27-country bloc would require a referendum that UK voters had little desire for, after the Conservatives’ botched handling of Brexit.

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Labour says it will stick with workers’ rights plans despite Mandelson remarks

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Party says it is committed to policies such as zero-hours ban after peer warned against ‘rushing’ changes

Labour has said it will keep its ban on zero-hours jobs and improvements to workers’ rights after the party peer Peter Mandelson warned against “rushing” through changes championed by trade unions.

Anneliese Dodds, the Labour chair, said the party was committed to the package to “make work pay” and get more money into people’s pockets, but that it would “continue to discuss” the plans with business and unions.

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Businessman in passports scandal asked if he should avoid UK until after 2001 election

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Srichand P Hinduja spoke to diplomat over fears of embroiling Labour party in row, National Archives files show

The man at the centre of the “cash-for-passports” scandal two decades ago asked the government if he should delay returning to the UK until after the 2001 general election, newly released official files show.

Srichand P Hinduja was embroiled in a row that ultimately led to the second resignation of Peter Mandelson from the cabinet over his actions when the businessman, who made a £1m donation to the Millennium Dome, was applying for a British passport.

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Keir Starmer says Labour will tackle obstacles holding back housebuilding as protester interrupts conference speech – as it happened

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Labour leader says party has ‘plan to get Britain building again’ after security breach where protester threw glitter on him at start of speech

Labour has published fresh details of how the community policy guarantee (see 9.43am) will work.

On community policing

On Starmer, told that after Reeves’ reassurance over economy, his speech designed to paint a ‘picture of hope’ & it ‘emotive rather than a big policy drop’> the word cloud on what Starmer’s about peppered with don’t know and even ‘nothing’. This his chance to hammer home values

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Peter Mandelson calls for Labour caution in improving workers’ rights

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Peer warns party against over-zealous labour market reforms while dismissing former leaders as ‘weak, weak, weak’

Peter Mandelson has warned Labour not to go too far in bringing in labour market reforms to benefit workers and hit out at Unite’s Sharon Graham, while describing the past decade of party leaders as “weak, weak, weak”.

The Labour peer, a former business secretary and architect of the 1997 election victory, gave a combative speech to a City of London Corporation dinner at the party conference, where he warned against making labour market reforms that swung towards the “other extreme”.

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Labour’s Wes Streeting interviewed at Labour party conference – UK politics live

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Shadow health secretary questioned by Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner

Q: You oppose the Rwanda policy because you don’t think it will work. If the supreme court rules it is legal, and deportations start and it is seen to be working, would you still reverse it.

Yes, says Starmer. He says it is the wrong policy. It is very expensive, and it only affect only a small number of people. And the policy does not deal with the problem at source.

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Pat McFadden: the most powerful Labour politician most have never heard of

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Role preparing for election will see McFadden shape party’s direction, but it will likely be done quietly

Pat McFadden is the most powerful Labour politician most people have never heard of. As Rachel Reeves’ No 2 in the shadow Treasury team, with responsibility for Labour’s public spending plans, he could derail the dreams of shadow cabinet colleagues with just a raised eyebrow.

In his new role preparing for the election campaign and – should Labour win it – running the Cabinet Office, he assumes even greater responsibility for the direction of Keir Starmer’s party. Yet much of it is likely to be done quietly, and efficiently, behind the scenes.

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Starmer must not ‘sit back’ if Labour is to win next election, Mandelson says

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Former cabinet minister urges Labour leader to be ‘restless for change’ and challenge ‘post-truth’ campaign by Truss government

Liz Truss will mount a “post-truth” campaign presenting the Conservatives as the party of change at the next election, Peter Mandelson has warned, as he called on Keir Starmer not to “sit back” and assume automatic victory.

While Labour has held a steady lead in the opinion polls for nine months, Starmer was urged by the former cabinet minister to “do a better job” of showing voters how the party has evolved under his leadership to cement its chances of entering government.

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The Moscow moves: how Mandelson’s firm helped Uber reach Russian elite

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Leak shows how the former Labour minister used his access to pro-Kremlin oligarchs, including some now under sanctions

Even before Uber’s top executives arrived in Davos in January 2016, its bosses were trying to secure invitations to the exclusive party hosted by the billionaire Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska. Famous for its free-flowing vodka, the event was an invitation-only, after-hours fixture of the world economic forum, the annual gathering of corporate leaders and politicians in the Swiss Alps.

Fortunately for Uber, it had hired someone who could pull strings. “Put them on list at door,” ordered Peter Mandelson, according to messages in the Uber files data leak.

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Boris Johnson wants to mimic Tony Blair’s project, say No 10 sources

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PM wants to echo Blair’s promise of an ‘opportunity society’ and energise those who feel left behind

Boris Johnson intends to mimic aspects of Tony Blair’s political project in the hope of winning over more voters in former Labour heartlands, Downing Street sources have revealed.

While the Conservatives’ 2019-intake MPs are more likely to model themselves on Margaret Thatcher than the former Labour prime minister, No 10 insiders said Johnson had been studying Blair’s approach.

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Boris Johnson is warned of ‘dangerous political vacuum’ in Northern Ireland

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Letter from four former secretaries of state says Brexit’s damage to peace process must be addressed

Northern Ireland is in a dangerous political vacuum and could “fall over” unless the UK government acts swiftly, according to a cross-party group of former cabinet ministers with experience in the region.

Boris Johnson needs to show more urgency and focus to ameliorate Brexit’s damage to the peace process, the group tells the prime minister in an open letter published on Monday.

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