The Mandelson scandal reveals a political settlement in which democratic choice is curtailed and the power of markets eclipses the will of voters – only the left can challenge this, writes JON TRICKETT MP
PETER MANDELSON emerged as an “unofficial” adviser to Starmer’s team during the botched Hartlepool by-election. Morgan McSweeney, who is close to Mandelson, was Starmer’s chief of staff and is now Labour’s “elections director.”
Mandelson was one of the key — and controversial — architects of New Labour, shifting the party in a right-wing, pro-big business direction. Mandelson was Labour’s campaign director in the 2010 election: Labour lost that election, so, out of a job, Mandelson set up Global Counsel, which he co-owns with former Blair communications director Ben Wegg-Prosser.
Global Counsel promises to help big businesses with “Navigating politics, business and policymaking” and charges corporate clients for advice on how to “manage risk and see opportunities in politics, regulation and public policy.”
SOLOMON HUGHES asks whether Labour ‘engaging with decision-makers’ with scandalous records of fleecing the public is really in our interests
SOLOMON HUGHES details how the firm has quickly moved on to buttering-up Labour MPs after the fall of the Tories so it can continue to ‘win both ways’ collecting public and private cash by undermining the NHS
Secret consultation documents finally released after the Morning Star’s two-year freedom of information battle show the Home Office misrepresented public opinion, claiming support for policies that most respondents actually strongly criticised as dangerous and unfair, writes SOLOMON HUGHES



