It's official - Gordon Brown has completely lost his marbles

[Captain Seafort]

Mandelson's back

Jesus wept.

[Enkidu]

They should have put a stake through his heart last time. I wonder how he'll fall from grace this time?

[Sionnach Glic]

My computer's being a bitch and won't open that damn thing for me (along with virtualy every second site I want to access, but I digress), so would someone please summarise it for me? Thanks.

[Captain Seafort]

Short version: Peter Mandelson's back in the cabinet, and has been appointed a life peer. Given that he's been forced to resign twice because of some extremely dodgy finances, he's second only to Alastair Campbell in terms of spin-doctoring everything he comes into contact, and he and Brown are well-known for hating each others guts, this is...unusual, to say the least.

[Enkidu]

Mandelson - one of the main architects of new Labour and despised by most of the Labour party has been appointed as Business Secretary by Gordon Brown, an old enemy. He's already left the cabinet twice due to his murky finances and Machiavellian tendencies. He been doing rather well as a EU Commissioner in the last few years; The inherent corruption and undemocratic nature of the EU seemed to suit him.

[Enkidu]

Note how similar Seaforth's (who if memory serves is a Tory) and my (a long lapsed, but at the end of the day still instinctive Labour man) summaries of Madelson are. You might say he is a very non partisan figure in UK politics. Everybody hates him.

[Mikey]

I'm not familiar with anything but the broadest details of Mandelson's former tenure(s) but doesn't the fact that he was shown the door twice already mean anything to anyone?

[Sionnach Glic]

Wow, what the hell is Brown playing at?

[Enkidu]

I've been drinking a lot of ground coffee in the last few weeks ( 4 to 8 cups a day instead of 2 to 3 cups a year) and maybe the massive increase in caffeine is causing paranoia, but I have a theory. Brown since he became PM has been at best indecisive and at worst totaly useless. The economy on which he built his reputation is totaly buggered and he hasn't got a clue how to deal with the financial crisis. So he brings back his most hated personal foe, a twice disgraced figure no longer an MP and sticks him in the House Of Lords and back in the Cabinet, a utterly surprising move expected by no one. A radical move, that makes him look decisive, like a Man With A Plan, when in fact he has nothing......

[Mikey]

I don't think it's caffeine paranoia. Politicians have done more radical things for reasons that amount to no more than stage dressing.

[Sionnach Glic]

Aye, it may well be a smokescreen, designed to distract people from the fact that he hasn't a fucking clue what he's doing.

[thelordharry]

I've been drinking a lot of ground coffee in the last few weeks ( 4 to 8 cups a day instead of 2 to 3 cups a year) and maybe the massive increase in caffeine is causing paranoia, but I have a theory. Brown since he became PM has been at best indecisive and at worst totaly useless. The economy on which he built his reputation is totaly buggered and he hasn't got a clue how to deal with the financial crisis. So he brings back his most hated personal foe, a twice disgraced figure no longer an MP and sticks him in the House Of Lords and back in the Cabinet, a utterly surprising move expected by no one. A radical move, that makes him look decisive, like a Man With A Plan, when in fact he has nothing......

Or someone to blame it on as it continues to go wrong

[Graham Kennedy]

The best I can figure is this.

Brown always thought Blair was a simpering lightweight, politically speaking, along with the rest of "new" Labour. However, he can hardly deny that they were very good at winning elections. Now he probably figured that once he came to power and all the spin and lightweight crap was gone, he'd be super-popular with the voters because he was a real politician who'd run the country properly.

What he's found is that he's actually wildly unpopular, most people don't like him regardless of his policies, and a good portion of his reputation has been flushed down the toilet. There's also the "time for a change" factor at work, which does tend to kick in after ten years or so. Plus Cameron is doing a pseudo-Blair impression, which seems to be working.

Mandelson, whilst apparently crooked, has a track record of being really good at winning elections. So Gordon has decided that he can swallow his pride and work with him. That's why Mandelson is really there - whatever his official role, he's back so he can plan the next election campaign. Brown is hoping that he'll be able to add that new Labour election-winning streak to his own "real" politics and get another term for himself.

In a way it makes sense. I don't think it will actually work, but it's a reasonably smart thing to do.

[Enkidu]

Well if that's the case it's already backfired, as in todays paper Mandy is refusing to give a categorical affirmitive answer on whether Brown will still be leading the party into the next election - just like the boy Prince Milliband a few weeks back. Plus, there's a growing story, likely to be drowned out by the increasing financial crisis stories about just what Mandy said to Osbourne when they ate out together on holiday. Osbourne says Mandy slagged off Brown, and Mandy says Osbourne is lying. I believe the Tory and it's not often I get to say that. Mandelson plots by nature. There is no way Brown can trust him.
On the plus side for Brown, it seems the return of the Queen-of-Backstabbers has caused a certain amount of panic and confusion among the MP's plotting Browns removal, but seems like a high price to pay, like holding off frostbite in your fingers by burning your foot.

[Graham Kennedy]

Lol, what a mess...