13.06 Baroness Cathy Ashton (cuurently Leader of the Lords) tipped to replace Mandelson in Brussels.
13.02
11.49 Margaret Beckett to the Cabinet Office (so someone says in the comments!)
11.41 John McDonell on Sky saying "I'm not into criticising personalities, but Mandelson's a ****" or words to that effect.
11.32 Jeff Rooker (DEFRA Minister in the Lords) is to leave the government.
11.22 Ed Miliband to head up a new department of Energy & Climate Change. Benn to remain at Defra.
11.18 A correspondent emails to suggest that it might be Lord Mandelson of Notting Hill!
11.07 The Labour spin on this reshuffle is that the Tories will be "nervous" about this reshuffle and will be terrified by Mandelson. You've got to laugh, haven't you? Draper was on Sky earlier saying that this spelled the end of the Tory Party and is a masterstroke by the PM. I wonder if the electorate will be as welcoming of the appointment.
10.57 How on earth is Gordon Brown conducting a reshuffle, when he is live on Sky News with the dreadful Michael Winner in Luton?!
10.27 Caroline Flint may go to the Cabinet Office.
10.21 Opps, forgot to say Nick Brown is tipped to be the new Chief Whip.
10.19 Des Browne to leave government of his own volition.
10.17 Looks like my friend Mr McNulty is going to miss out.
10.16 Boulton speculating that Margaret Beckett will replace Mandelson as Britain's European Commissioner. This would mean a by election.
10.15 Geoff Hoon to Transport. Doubt whether he will be very pleased by that.
10.09 Ben Brogan reports that Damian McBride will leave his job as Brown's spokesman. Is he copping it for the Ruth Kelly debacle?
10.05 Jon Cruddas tipped to replace Caroline Flint at Housing - the job he turned down last year.
10.00 Mandelson replaces Hutton at Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform - an eye catching, not to say astonishing move. Has there ever been a politician who has come back to the Cabinet after two resignations?
God Mandelson is back. You kjust know Nu Liebour is in it's death throws when this little creep is back in power.
ReplyDeleteMandy back... so is Brown desperate or gutsy?
ReplyDeleteMust say this is a staggering move.
Mandelson back - truly a cabinet of all the talons - miaow !
ReplyDeleteAlan Douglas
That's LORD Mandy to you
ReplyDeleteScraping the bottom of the barrel now with Mandy back and Cruddas climbing the ladder.
ReplyDeleteThe Mandy decision is particularly worrying, not sure what it says about Browns mental state.
How can you be a friend to that total c*nt McNulty? he cant put 3 words into a sentence.
ReplyDeleteWonder how long Mandleson will last this time?
Margaret Beckett coming back -- you could not make this up. It just goes to show that show a pig a trough and they will jump right back in.
ReplyDeleteNick Brown going to Chief Whip - that will be well received - not!
Des Browne out all together -- a man of honour (?) he has refused to leave our troops in the lurch and go for some other sinecure, although whats the betting he goes to Europe in 12 months.
Mandy baby has a long article in the New Statesman "I support Brown but we mustn`t turn left"
ReplyDeleteThis has to be to shore up Brown internally and to set against the move left at the conference .
Under cover of financial melt down and all that he think she can do anything( See Mary Riddell)
"Mr Brown, once denigrated by Mr Cameron as an arch-ditherer, can suddenly do anything he wants. An unpopular reshuffle in the next few days? "Don't rule it out," an insider says. Most radically of all, I understand that Mr Brown is actively considering whether Britain should join the euro."
Private Eye says Cross Rail is dropped - I think they are right
To me this all looks as if he is under far far more pressurre in the Labour Party than we know and that is certainly what Martin Bright in the New Statesman says ( Trench warfare he calls it )
But Mandy is still a European commissioner. How does that work?
ReplyDeleteAnd whatever happened to the "age of change"?
...of course thuis muts have been ppanned before Brown recovered a bit ...when there was absolutely bnothing to lose
ReplyDeleteWouldn't he want to avoid a byelection at all costs?
ReplyDeleteIs this a desperate attempt to keep his party together then?
"Geoff Hoon to Transport. Doubt whether he will be very pleased by that."
ReplyDeleteAt least his 'Don't send me to Brussels' begging on Newsnight paid off !!
Flint moving? where to? Ministry for hemlines and flashing?
ReplyDeleteBTW shocking that the Defence Secretary should be asked to move at this time.
"10.19 Des Browne to leave government of his own volition. "
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely euphemism that is !
"10.17 Looks like my friend Mr McNulty is going to miss out."
I'm singin' in the rain, jus' singin' in the rain, what a glorious feelin', I'm 'appy again..
Maybe with some elocution lessons a late winner might just 'appen ?
Mandelson back, eh! So a man who is forced to resign twice gets a recall. Errr, ok! Oh, and to add insult to injury, he'll be given a peerage to enable this move. Wonderful! We all thought Brown had a few screws loose. Now we know it!
ReplyDeleteGordon Brown HATES Mandy - so that is why he has brought him back !
ReplyDeleteHe knows the ship is going down so he is absolutely determined to say,
"Righty-ho you greasy mendacious fucker, I will make damned sure that your career is dead and buried by making sure you go down WITH the ship and ensure you are covered with the stench and vitriol of failure just as much as the rest of us..."
Mandy already has a peerage...
ReplyDeleteGordon Brown is just getting on with the job. Here's the proof
ReplyDeleteHow many times do you have to resign with the pervading air of corruption following you about?
ReplyDeleteJeez, it's enough to make a rocking horse weep!!
When the press-pack were laying seige to Mandelson in his Notting Hill apartment before his resignation over the Robinson loan which funded it, up screeched a pizza delivery man on a scooter.
ReplyDeleteMobbed by the hacks, he was bullied into divulging that the pizza for Mandy and Reinaldo was a "Mermaid Queen".
For some of us who made a note of this detail, Mermaid Queen has sort of stuck as a moniker which rather suits him. No disrespect to the Blogmeister - the regal word is being used with its "drama" connotation.
Mandy Gay! Alan Duncan Gay! is that the first time that a Minister and Shadow have been openly Gay men Iain?
ReplyDeleteNEWS:::: Have found out why Brown gave mandy a job. It must have been something connected with new pen as a gift.....
ReplyDeleteHave just heard this in the lobby: "Surely Mandy must have given him one"
You folks may not have noticed (or have preferred not to) but Mandelson has been a terrific Commissioner. He has mastered his brief and is articulate and an excellent Eurocrat. Welcome back Lord Mandy!
ReplyDeleteBTW - whilst the mainstream media (like BBS/SKY) who have a chip on their shoulder are doing their best to say the VP debate was at best even for Palin but maybe just edged by Biden, a Bob Lutz focus group gave it to Palin.
ReplyDeleteDrudge too gave it to Palin.
Mainstream media sucks - right?
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/10/021673.php
Its like i said on an earlier thread she would do well. A tough night for 'rabid' lefties.
Many brought back in - Cameron simply MUST respond by bringing back Archer, or Mellor, or Parkinson, or Proctor, or (cont p94)
ReplyDeleteDid Shane Greer know something about this yesterday?? Lord Mandy and a Ladyboy??
ReplyDeleteI assume with Browne going that Paul Murphy will also be gone by the end of the day. The Catholics are revolting!
ReplyDeleteOh come on Iain, he's gone to a memorial service. Surely that's allowed?!
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:48 said
ReplyDelete"Mandy Gay! Alan Duncan Gay! is that the first time that a Minister and Shadow have been openly Gay men Iain?"
Well, All we need if for Simon Hughes to be the LibDem spokesthing. Oh, I forgot. He isn't, is he. Is he ?.
James, I didn't say it wasn't allowed. It's just I have never seen a Cabinet reshuffle happening without the Prime Minister present!
ReplyDeleteBaroness Amos to Brussels? You read it here first.
ReplyDeleteJohn
If Beckett goes to Europe then the LibDems need only a 6.5 per cent swing to take her Derby South constituency.
ReplyDeleteCould/would Brown appoint a high profile Tory to the EU Commissioner Role? Clarke even Hague.
ReplyDeleteDont think he would, but there surely would be a cat amongst the pigeons?
Des Browne to leave government of his own volition."
ReplyDeleteThis creep saw the writing on the wall for him at the elections!
Paddy Briggs - yes, you're right. He single-handedly ensured the Irish voted against the Lisbon Treaty so he gets my thumbs up! LOL!
ReplyDeleteOh come on Iain, he's gone to a memorial service. Surely that's allowed?!
ReplyDeletePity it wasnt his OWN memorial service!
Alastair Campbell seems to be pulling the new Labour crew back together. The whole political scene is changing with Labour moving to the right and the Conservatives to the left.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 10.34 am said...
ReplyDelete"Mandy already has a peerage..."
I don't think so. There was talk of it but it never happened.
Mandelson?? Mandelson??
ReplyDeleteThis is the man who had to resign twice despite one of his closest friends being PM!!!!
I think it is very sporting, he's going for a hattrick. Albeit without the 'closest friends' thing.
I do agree with Lord Monteagle@10:55 Shane Greer was remarkably prescient.
Allegations of corruption obviously mean nothing to Brown.
ReplyDeleteWell....more corruption, more spin, definitely the end of this awful bloody government.
I think Brown has made a big mistake with mandelson. Macdonnel on the BBC News saying it is a big mistake all ready!
ReplyDeleteMoves like this just go to inflame opinion against Brown as it looks based on dodgy thought processes. Maybe Brown will make tony Blair EU commmisioner?
A very bad day for the lefties.
ReplyDeleteLabour turns to the right and Palin makes a great debate.
With Mandelson headed for the House of Lords, I wionder what title he will take?
ReplyDeleteHow about...
Lord Mandelson of Jeunes Hommes
No. It's after the street in Brussels on which he lives...
A government of all the Browns. Ugh!
ReplyDelete"Benn to remain at Defra."
ReplyDeleteKill the badgers you soft cretin !!
Beckett to be "Cabinet Enforcer" - now is not the time for a "novice" or a by-election in the East Midlands for that matter either
ReplyDeleteWRT Energy and Climate.
ReplyDeleteJust what we need as we head in to a recession,anoher Government Department eating up more of our money. Surely streamlining is eeded not expansion.
Mandelson is a really odd move. He has ha a few yars of the press being off his back because he emigrated. THe press will be scrutinising every single move he makes. It could take their eye off Brown, but when Mandelson has to go next time (and he will), Brown will suffer.
I just test marketed Mandelson's return with two non-political colleagues in my City office. One laughed and had to be reassured I wasn't joking and the other just put her head in her hands.
ReplyDeleteEven Jesus Christ is only advertised as having a prospective second coming.
If this is the answer, is Gordon perhaps asking the wrong question?
I know you'll find it hard to admit this, but Cameron will be worried about having Mandelson's evil genius on Brown's side again. Mandelson is evil, no doubt about that. But he's also utterly ruthless and unscrupulous, exactly the kind of operator you need in this desperate situation. Beggars can't be choosers.
ReplyDeleteWhat experience?! Experience at lying, resigning (Mandy) and mismanaging farm payments on a colossal scale (Beckett).
ReplyDeleteSheesh!
I am assuming that the context behind Brown's reshuffle is the experience side of things. This is obviously Brown's new narrotive.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it will work personally, Mandelson is a ticking time bomb. I don't think this is a shift to the right by the way by Brown. As Beckitt offsets Mandelson. Mandelson is obviously there about presentation. But I don't think he can do much for them now on that score. Again this reshuffle shows the Tories are dictating the agenda and Labour are having to react to the Tories.
Glad Des Browne AND Paul Murphy are going. Means they'll be able to vote in accordance with their consciences on the HFE.
ReplyDeleteAny Tory who is 'afraid' of Mandelson's self-spun skills should read Paul Routledge's biography and deconstruction of the alleged election genius.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget, Routledge is a genuine Socialist.
Were there not a load of interesting press comment about what Mandelson had allegedly said about Brown.
ReplyDeleteLord Mandelson of Queens Gate. Which just shows what a rude loud mouthed guest I am.
ReplyDelete"a new department of Energy & Climate Change" -- now that really is moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Appointing a minister for climate change when world temperatures are lower than they were 20 years ago is a real master-stroke. Of course this is all a blind to push through nuclear power.
Still it means another appointment for a permanent seretary
I don't know how you get conservatives moving to the left. They are just straightforward mainstream.
I think this is another short-term gambit to disguise the headlines.
ReplyDeleteRuth Kelly has said in effect she will not hold her seat at the next election so is packing up shop. The Goat's are also leaving Brown's arc!
I think this reshuffle is a pyric victory for Brown - it sows the seeds for further discord and division.
Sarkozy is going to love Brown for this!!!
ReplyDeleteLOooooooooooooooooooooooOL!
Mandelson is not popular in the country. Further, he is connected in people's minds with the EU, and stock in that institution is at rock bottom at the moment.
ReplyDeleteBig, big mistake, and Draper's comments show how out of touch he is with reality.
The Cruddas - Beckitt axis is obviously a lurch to the left in terms of policy. Mandelson will be the spokesman to the new leftwing/Labour balance that is emerging in Labour
ReplyDeleteIndeed I meant to say Leftwing/Labour balance.
ReplyDeleteJames Lansdale (BBC News) has just said Labour were thinking about Minsiter of Nations but didn't realise those jobs were "jobs in statute" meaning that legislation would have to be put through to remove the Welsh, NI and Scottish Offices.
ReplyDeleteSo a lot of this reshuffle is basically half cut. The genius that is New Labour.
Oh and "Lord" Mandelson.....I just give up!
Well however you look it - we're now totally out of ideas and people to support Gordon.
ReplyDeleteDesperate times - the elements in the Party that hate Mandy will now have to put a firm boot in - including many MPs overlooked in this re shuffle who've been loyal year after year and once again ignored.
Why don't we even consider calling a certain after all if an ex MP who was booted out can have a Dept - why not Tony!
This reshuffle is very badly timed for PR value. "Boris & Blair" got today's headlines.
ReplyDeleteThe House of representatives bailout vote could well take the Saturday headlines.
So the Prime Minister sticks two brown fingers up at his own party and the British electorate.
ReplyDeleteSo much for Brown being untainted by NuLab. He's certainly come out of the closet now.
Homophobic, moi? No, but certainly NuLabphobic. How long before Blair takes the ermine? And how long before his namesake does, too?
And La Beckett has merely been touring. Now she's parked her caravan in Downing Street.
Ian Gibson MP on BBC TV! Not impressed by Mandelson!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he still thinks he will be shouted at in supermarkets!!!
Labour = Ferrats in the sack!
Labour are doomed- DOOMED! This was supposed to be a re-launch and two Labour MP's have already critised it despite the lurch to the left in policy stance of late. The deckchairs have been reshuffled but the boat is still keeling over to the left and the waves are lapping the deck!
I'm not too sure about the wisdom of bringing back Mandelson. However, with Beckett apparently also coming back, the gap in experience compared to the team that the novice and his schoolboy Chancellor have assembled is going to look wider than ever.
ReplyDeleteGod this lot have had more comebacks than Status Quo. What next? Blunkett, Estelle Morris? How long before Ruth Kelly makes a comeback?
ReplyDeleteIain - are you going to post a comment on your mate Fawkes' latest homophobic caption competition?
ReplyDeleteJon Cruddas did not turn down housing last year, it was the job he wanted but he wasn't offered it.
ReplyDeleteWhat he was actually offered was one of those meaningless party vice-chair-cum-regional minister jobs that Joan Ryan has just resigned from. Having just come third in the deputy leadership election he rightly saw it as beneath him.
I'm awating Tony Benn to be at defence.
ReplyDeleteIt just isn't healthy to have a husband and wife and two brothers in a cabinet.
And Mandelson.
And a Lord! 'For services to....er.....get back to me'. Then again, if 'Adonis' can get a peerage I don't see why not.
The David Yelland appointment is amusing because one of Brown's biggest cheerleaders in the media is Piers Morgan, and there's a *very* bitter animosity between Morgan and Yelland from their days as rival tabloid editors.
ReplyDelete"Iain - are you going to post a comment on your mate Fawkes' latest homophobic caption competition?"
ReplyDeleteYes, it would be nice if Iain came out against this. Guido purposefully facilitates disgusting homophobia whilst plenty of people who should know better turn a blind eye and link to him. Even the official Conservative blog has a link to him FFS.
Very upset.
ReplyDeleteWith Mandy back in the cabinet, Brown could have gone all the way and sent Dave Nellist to Brussels on a worker's wage.
The big surprise for me in the reshuffle was that Ed Balls wasn't moved to a more prominent job. The Mandelson thing is simply...remarkable. Are there any other jobs in the world where you can resign for wrongdoing *twice* and then be brought back?
ReplyDeletePrescott must be spitting into his condensed milk.
The new spin doctor: Justin Forsyth is the former head of policy for Oxfam, and a former advisor on international development to both Blair and Brown.
ReplyDelete"Has there ever been a politician who has come back to the Cabinet after two resignations?"
ReplyDeleteThere may have been some in the 18th century. And Lord Beaverbrook resigned in 1918 (although he wasn't in the small War Cabinet) and again in 1942 (when he was) to come back (outside it), albeit in different circumstances.
Can anyone find a better example?
Government of the living dead, has Brown run out of imagination?
ReplyDelete