The Turd that Wouldn't Flush
Following the Prime Minister's latest Cabinet reshuffle corrupt politician and all-round dodgy geezer Peter Mandelson is back at the heart of the Labour Government.
Mandelson, who has spent the last 3-years in Brussels as EU trade commissioner, has rejoined the Government as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
For those of you with short memories - worryingly that's quite a sizable chunk of the UK electorate - I shall quickly recap why Peter Mandelson has been forced to resign twice previously from Government.
In December 1998 Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, bought a new home in the Notting Hill area of West London. The purchase was part-funded by a £373,000 loan from fellow dodgy Labour politician Geoffrey Robinson. Robinson was the then Paymaster General.
Mandelson's department, the now defunct DTI, was investigating one of Robinson's companies at the time of the loan - something Mandelson apparently didn't realise when he cashed the cheque. Mandelson also took out a mortgage on his new home, but omitted to tell the Britannia Building Society about the loan he had already received from Robinson. When questioned about his mortgage application Mandelson never could quite remember whether he'd declared the loan or not - fortunately the document ended up on the web, confirming to all his mortgage omission. Surprisingly, the Britannia were quite forgiving about the incident.
Mandelson was back in the Cabinet within a year, this time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In January 2001 rumours surfaced that Mandelson was trying to pull strings at the Home Office, with regard to his mates the Hinduja brothers (more dodgy people) passport applications. Mandelson swore blind he was innocent of any wrongdoing, but he still resigned from Government a second time within the space of a fortnight. An independent enquiry later cleared Mandelson of any wrongdoing, but the mud stuck anyway given his previous misdemeanours.
The Conservatives have hit back angrily at Mandelson's latest resurrection to the Cabinet. William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary, said of the PM's decision: "In bringing back Peter Mandelson - the man who created Labour spin - he (Gordon Brown) has broken his promise to govern in an honest and open way."
Mandelson, who has spent the last 3-years in Brussels as EU trade commissioner, has rejoined the Government as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
For those of you with short memories - worryingly that's quite a sizable chunk of the UK electorate - I shall quickly recap why Peter Mandelson has been forced to resign twice previously from Government.
In December 1998 Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, bought a new home in the Notting Hill area of West London. The purchase was part-funded by a £373,000 loan from fellow dodgy Labour politician Geoffrey Robinson. Robinson was the then Paymaster General.
Mandelson's department, the now defunct DTI, was investigating one of Robinson's companies at the time of the loan - something Mandelson apparently didn't realise when he cashed the cheque. Mandelson also took out a mortgage on his new home, but omitted to tell the Britannia Building Society about the loan he had already received from Robinson. When questioned about his mortgage application Mandelson never could quite remember whether he'd declared the loan or not - fortunately the document ended up on the web, confirming to all his mortgage omission. Surprisingly, the Britannia were quite forgiving about the incident.
Mandelson was back in the Cabinet within a year, this time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In January 2001 rumours surfaced that Mandelson was trying to pull strings at the Home Office, with regard to his mates the Hinduja brothers (more dodgy people) passport applications. Mandelson swore blind he was innocent of any wrongdoing, but he still resigned from Government a second time within the space of a fortnight. An independent enquiry later cleared Mandelson of any wrongdoing, but the mud stuck anyway given his previous misdemeanours.
The Conservatives have hit back angrily at Mandelson's latest resurrection to the Cabinet. William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary, said of the PM's decision: "In bringing back Peter Mandelson - the man who created Labour spin - he (Gordon Brown) has broken his promise to govern in an honest and open way."
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