Things aren’t looking too rosy for the UK’s new Ambassador to the US Lord Mandelson. He’s already on the back foot after calling Trump a “danger to the world”, being NFI’d to Trump’s inauguration along with suggestions that if Starmer pushed through the Chagos surrender deal, the US might block his appointment in retaliation. Latest reports Down Under aren’t doing the Prince of Darkness any favours in his hopes of being approved…
The Nightly reveals that a dossier compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, outlining Mandelson’s links to Beijing, has been handed to the FBI by US Senators. This dossier details Mandelson’s role as an adviser to the China-based global investment bank CICC—a connection he failed to declare in the House of Lords register. It also highlights a series of visits to China where Mandy met with top-ranking officials including a 2019 meeting with Zhou Yubo, then Secretary of the CPC Committee and Chairman of China Guoxin. Past ties that may appeal to Labour’s pro-China contingent, though less likely to sit well with the hawks in Trump’s camp…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”