Mandelson apologises, but not for helping to turn Starmer against the EU and leading him into the arms of corporate America
Starmer relied heavily on Mandeson’s advice before he became prime minister. He was part of his inner circle.
It was almost certainly Mandelson who persuaded Starmer that getting Brexit undone was not the way forward. Was he behind Starmer’s decision to vote for Johnson’s deal and the Brexit silence that followed? His influence was certainly in play. Notoriously cautious and someone who found decision making a challenge, Starmer was clearly taken in by Mandelson’s persuasive powers.
It says a great deal about Starmer’s judgement that he thought it would be a good idea to include Mandelson in his inner circle. Mandelson’s association with his ‘best pal’, Epstein was well known, as was his association with Russian oligarchs - Oleg Deripaska in particular - and his contacts with Kremlin insiders through his lobbying company Global Counsel. The ever ambitious Starmer, keen to emulate Tony Blair’s political and financial success, decided that having access to advice from one of the architects of that success had to be the right thing to do, regardless of Mandelson’s questionable associations.
In the eighteen months Starmer has been in office, he has been continually let down by his judgement, never more so when he decided to appoint Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
His decision to appoint a best friend of Epstein at a time when the Epstein files were about be released was a gobsmackingly stupid thing to do. Apparently, Starmer’s overriding thought was that Mandelson was the man who could handle Trump - or was it Mandelson who persuaded Starmer that he was the right man for the job?
Mandelson, through Global Counsel, had developed a strong relationship with many large American corporations including Palantir and America’s biggest bank, J P Morgan. So little surprise that after Starmer’s cringingly awful meeting with Trump when he proffered an ‘unprecedented’ second state visit to the orange moron, Mandelson took Starmer by the hand and together they went to see the big, bad Palantir. Palantir is a surveillance and defence company, which has now landed a big UK defence contract.
Mandelson has a lot to answer for. He took the naive Starmer down a road that has done him no favours and left Britain in a really bad place. Brexit is a catastrophe, a catastrophe that could have been undone but hasn’t been and, if Starmer has his way, never will be. Instead, we are to be sucked into an American regulatory orbit, with the remnants of our spent carcass and our tattered institutions being consumed by American corporations.
At the time he was appointed ambassador, I assumed that the Americans had told Starmer who they wanted.
It stretches credulity beyond any possible limit to think that Mandelson had no idea what was going on on Epstein's island or it is mentioned, both of which he'd visited multiple times.
His defence that Epstein must have excluded him because he was gay only raises the thought that Epstein would have found other ways to influence and compromise him.
Of course, Laura Kuenssberg was never going to ask Mandelson any hard questions about that.
The only saving grace about Mandelson must be his unique ability to self destruct without prompting.Undoubtedly his superior intellect has attracted others to him like moths to a light but he has no self critical faculties hence his misjudgments in the personal sphere eg. borrowing from a fellow cabinet member to buy a bijou Notting Hill pad beyond his resources,intervening on behalf of wealthy donors in matters of UK naturalisation,and sharing holiday time with Osbourn an opposition politician on a controversial Russian oligarch's yacht.The latest volte face on giving an apology for his association with Epstein long after the latter's venality had been exposed reinforce his pathological dislike of the laws and conventions that bind the rest of us mere mortals.He has been a special adviser or minister to three Labour PM's which may suggest some moral blindness on their parts but might also illustrate his unique talents to enfold the rich or famous within his web.I would not however quite write him off at this stage given the paucity of political talent on the global as well as UK stage.
At the time he was appointed ambassador, I assumed that the Americans had told Starmer who they wanted.
It stretches credulity beyond any possible limit to think that Mandelson had no idea what was going on on Epstein's island or it is mentioned, both of which he'd visited multiple times.
His defence that Epstein must have excluded him because he was gay only raises the thought that Epstein would have found other ways to influence and compromise him.
Of course, Laura Kuenssberg was never going to ask Mandelson any hard questions about that.
The only saving grace about Mandelson must be his unique ability to self destruct without prompting.Undoubtedly his superior intellect has attracted others to him like moths to a light but he has no self critical faculties hence his misjudgments in the personal sphere eg. borrowing from a fellow cabinet member to buy a bijou Notting Hill pad beyond his resources,intervening on behalf of wealthy donors in matters of UK naturalisation,and sharing holiday time with Osbourn an opposition politician on a controversial Russian oligarch's yacht.The latest volte face on giving an apology for his association with Epstein long after the latter's venality had been exposed reinforce his pathological dislike of the laws and conventions that bind the rest of us mere mortals.He has been a special adviser or minister to three Labour PM's which may suggest some moral blindness on their parts but might also illustrate his unique talents to enfold the rich or famous within his web.I would not however quite write him off at this stage given the paucity of political talent on the global as well as UK stage.