Lording About
There is a man in this current government who, without beating about the bush, I wholly dislike. He seems to have little moral or ethical backbone. He has held posts in the previous “Blair” governments and holds a post in the current “Brown” government.
Whilst holding the post of Trade Secretary he was forced to resign in 1998 over a scandal involving a £337,000 loan to the then Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson, who also resigned.
He was also given responsibility for the Millennium Dome but this led to a question mark over how his connections with the Dome and gaining sponsorship for the project might conflict with his role at the DTI.
His impartiality in adjudicating Rupert Murdoch’s bid to buy Manchester United was called into question because of his friendship with the Australian media magnate’s daughter Elisabeth.
But in the event those 2 decisions were taken out of his hands by his eventual resignation from government.
Only 10 months later Blair delighted in bringing this man back into government as Northern Ireland secretary but the man seemed to have dug his own political grave when he was forced to resign for a second time in January 2001 over his involvement with the Hinduja brothers.
In 2004 he vacated his seat as MP for Hartlepool in order to become European Commissioner for Trade, a post he held for nearly 4 years before Mr. Brown inducted him into the House of Lords (yes he is now a Barron) in October 2008, giving him the cabinet post of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. This post means that he now lords it over a department that includes no less than 12 Ministers.
Now I should point out a little-known fact that it is constitutionally possible for a peer to be prime minister though he would no doubt have to be elected as an MP within a relatively short time. I should also point out that the Labour Party rules would allow for another leader to be “appointed” by the cabinet without going through the normal long-winded formal process of electing a leader. I mention this just in case Mr. Brown finds that he has to step down prior to the next General Election.
The man I am talking about is dangerous and power-hungry, two attributes that make me hope that he never becomes Prime Minister.
That man is Peter Mandelson.
