Peter Mandelson, New Labour's original turbulent priest, back in the Cabinet? The cursing of the Brown loyalists will be long and heart-felt - this is a bold move to say the least.It's not just those resignations, either (one, passports for domes, two, loans for curtailing investigations). It's the years of hatred and mistrust. Eighteen months ago, as Gordon Brown was preparing to take office, Mandelson was forced to tell Brown that he couldn't be sacked by the Prime Minister-to-be from his EU Commissioner post.
Just six months ago Brown told him he could stay on in the Commission, and while the Guardian claimed "they are getting it together again", no-one believed them. These two have been against each other since the time Mandelson backed Blair over Brown for the leadership, and there is no way this will be smooth.
I wonder if the bookies have offered odds yet on his next resignation. I believe resigning from Cabinet three times would be an all-time record.
according to Craig Murray:
I just listened in disbelief as a reporter from BBC News just told us, after a lobby briefing, that Mandelson was going to help tackle the financial crisis by "Pushing forward on Brown's deregulation agenda".
incidentally, check this Greenspam quote from a couple of years ago: http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2008/10/the-origins-of-the-crisis/
inspired me to check if Hicks had ever intoned on bankers...but only re-discovered his thoughts on marketing!