23 h. ago ‘He needs to disappear for a very long time’: has Peter Mandelson finally run out of spin?

Bruised and tainted by his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the Labour peer still has admirers – and the drive to go againThe BBC’s interview with Peter Mandelson had offered ample evidence of the Labour peer’s “formidable political brain”, according to Louis Mosley, UK head of the US data firm, Palantir Technologies.An indefensible error of judgment had been made by Mandelson, Mosley said in a panel discussion with Laura Kuenssberg after the airing of some of the 30-minute interview on her Sunday morning political show, but “he is a masterful interpreter of Trump and we now live in a world where that man will determine much of what happens, and we need people who can be that translation function”. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Lord Mandelson finally apologises to Jeffrey Epstein's child victims for 'believing him over them'

Lord Peter Mandelson has finally apologised to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for 'believing him over them' and remaining friends with the convicted paedophile.

Events

4 d. ago Lord Mandelson makes personal apology for continuing friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

Former UK ambassador to the US’s apology to Epstein’s victims comes after he declined to do so in an interview over the weekend

Politics

4 d. ago Peter Mandelson finally issues apology to Jeffrey Epstein victims after backlash

It comes after the ex-Ambassador to the US, who was sacked after emails between him and Epstein came to light in September, failed to apologise over his association with the paedophile

Events

5 d. ago Peter Mandelson apologises for Epstein association in sudden U

Former ambassador to US had earlier declined to give apology for keeping in touch with sex offender after his conviction Peter Mandelson has issued an apology for his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – after declining to do so in an interview broadcast on Sunday.The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC in which he suggested that as a gay man he knew nothing of the disgraced financier’s sex life. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Swinney condemns ‘absurdity’ of Mandelson remaining in House of Lords

The Scottish First Minister spoke out as the SNP at Westminster prepared to table a Bill seeking to remove the former minister’s peerage.

Politics

6 d. ago Peter Mandelson declines to apologise for association with Jeffrey Epstein

Former UK ambassador says he is sorry for system that does not give victims protection they are entitled to expectPeter Mandelson declined to apologise to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims for remaining friends with the paedophile financier after his conviction but said he was sorry for “a system” that meant Epstein’s victims were ignored.The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC on Sunday, saying he had paid a “calamitous” price for his association with the “evil monster”. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Mandelson praises Trump’s ‘graciousness’ and declines to apologise for friendship with Jeffrey Epstein – UK politics live

In first TV interview since he was sacked as UK ambassador to US, Mandelson says association with Epstein was ‘terrible mistake’ but adds: ‘I was not culpable’Laura Kuenssberg asks Peter Mandelson if he liked Donald Trump when he was the UK ambassador.Mandelson says he did like Trump, listing of numerous reasons why, but said he did not like all of his “language”.I like him, yes, I liked his humour, his graciousness I liked his directness. You knew exactly what he was thinking and where you stood and what he wanted. And how he was proposing to engage, with you. Did I like in all his language? No, I didn’t, did I? Did he make me gasp? What’s going to happen is there’s going to be, another discussion, a lot of consultation and a lot of negotiation.At the end of the day, we are all going to have to wake up to the reality that the Arctic needs securing against China and Russia. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Mandelson reveals what he really thinks of Trump in first interview after sacking over Epstein ties

Lord Mandelson has revealed what he really thinks about Donald Trump.

Politics

6 d. ago Lord Peter Mandelson refuses to apologise for association with Jeffrey Epstein

The former ambassador apologised for a system that did not listen to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims but said he was not ‘complicit or culpable’.

Politics

6 d. ago Fury as Peter Mandelson refuses to apologise over Jeffrey Epstein friendship

In a bombshell interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, former Ambassador to the US Lord Mandelson declined to apologise for his friendship with Epstein after his conviction for child sex offences

Politics

1 week ago The Spin | Revealed after 100 years: how a corrupt official robbed Percy Fender of the England captaincy

Documentary makers seeking funds to finish making film of an extraordinary man and his influence on the gameAfter a mere 100 years the Spin, always first with the news, is finally able to reveal the details of one of the more extraordinary secrets in the history of English cricket. The story comes from the private family archives of the former Surrey captain Percy Fender, which are being compiled into a fascinating new documentary film. It has always been a mystery that Fender, who was described by Wisden as “the shrewdest county captain of his generation” was never picked to lead England. After all these years, it now appears he was blackmailed out of the job by a corrupt cricket official.In a private audio recording made shortly before his death in 1985, Fender explains that in May 1924 he was approached “by a gentleman who was very well known in the cricket world” who, during the course of a conversation over two half-bottles of champagne in Fender’s flat at the Adelphi, offered ...

Politics

2 w. ago Stranger Things finale Easter egg is crucial clue to Duffer Brothers spin

The Duffer Brothers have confirmed which Easter egg in the Stranger Things series finale connects to their upcoming spin-off series

Politics

2 w. ago Stranger Things finale Easter egg is very important clue to upcoming spin

The Stranger Things finale included a few Easter Eggs, but only one is the real clue to what The Duffer Brothers’ new spin-off will be about.

Politics

2 w. ago My big night out: I finished the 1990s with fireworks, a funfair, flirting – and furious hope for the future

It was the end of a fabulous decade, when spontaneous, unpredictable parties seemed not just possible but typical. A new millennium was dawning. What could possibly go wrong?‘We wish you peace,” said Tony Blair as the clock struck 8pm. It was New Year’s Eve 1999, a Friday night, and I was on the banks of the Thames. Britain’s fresh-faced prime minister – only two years into the job – was giving a gimmick called The British Airways London Eye its first spin. The Eye was physically unremarkable and harrowingly slow, but it didn’t matter because it only had a five-year lease and definitely wouldn’t still be around a quarter of a century later, littering the skyline.It was the end of the 90s and, as the Thatcher/Major doldrums whizzed out of view like the subplot of Sliding Doors, we maintained a Bridget Jones-like innocence and entrusted the future to guys like Blair, Peter Mandelson and Bill Clinton, who didn’t seem like (respectively) warmongers, abuse excusers or sex pests. Continue...

Events

2 w. ago Peter Mandelson’s 2005 general election warning to Tony Blair over Gordon Brown

Files released to the National Archives show that Peter Mandelson warned Tony Blair that tensions with his chancellor would need to be carefully managed during the election campaign

Events

2 w. ago MCG pitch is easy scapegoat but sloppy cricket is to blame for early Ashes finishes | Geoff Lemon

While the Melbourne curator had to face the media and say sorry, some of the players owe him an apology in returnYou know that something has gone wrong when the man in charge of the cricket pitch is giving a post-match press conference. Australian pitches are celebrities in their own right, each with a distinct perceived personality. Perth – gasoline, bounce. Sydney – intrigue, spin. Adelaide – graft, a late finale. Like any possessor of fame who has been around long enough, some trade on past glories that no longer apply, but what those ideas mean to the people repeating them is worth more than the truth itself.Aptly, these celebrities have agents, representatives, fluffers, heading to media appearances before each Test to prognosticate. Where the English grass gaffers are still called groundsmen, clomping around in gumboots yelling at interlopers to get off their giant lawn, the Australians are curators, artfully synthesising the elements of sun and rain and dew and morning mist i...

Politics