#peter-mandelson

#peter-mandelson

Just what has Stephen Doughty done to upset Keir Starmer? Are there no limits to the prime minister's contempt and hatred? Not that Steve is a total nobody. He's not a run-of-the-mill backbencher. But he has risen as high as he is likely to go as a junior minister in the Foreign Office. Probably higher than Steve ever expected. Certainly higher than his mates expected. Put simply, Steve is a dependable plodder.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Peter Mandelson was unceremoniously sacked as the UK's ambassador to Washington on Thursday after emails were published in which he had urged his friend Jeffrey Epstein to fight for early release from prison in 2008. For Trump, whose own friendship with Epstein has exposed him to damaging scrutiny, including from his own support base, there is no subject he wants to revisit less.

Many of us were devastated by [deputy PM] Angela Rayner's departure from the government last week. She's an extraordinary woman who's overcome the most extraordinary challenges and we are grieving and feel quite acutely that sense of loss. Now to have the dismissal of Peter Mandelson just the next week, I totally get it, of course Labour MPs will be despondent that in two weeks in a row we have seen significant resignations from public service.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Lord Peter Mandelson once memorably said he was intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich. Indeed over three decades at the top of British public life, he has shown a penchant for relaxing intensely in the yachts, homes and holiday pads of the super-wealthy. When the Labour peer was made ambassador to Donald Trump's White House, he promised to stay below the radar but the merest glance at his past record showed that to be a highly unlikely prospect.