The return of Mandelson shows that Brown knows just how deep a hole he is in

Pedant

"try to"!

Andrew Forbes

I imagine Gordon counted his fingers after he shook hands with Mandy. Is Mandy a labour man through and through who is coming to the rescue of his party? Or, has he spotted a weak leader and with a weak bunch of alternatives in the cabinet, the lack of an experienced big hitter, such as, for example, himself? You decide.

Tim

Does this bode well?

My memory is not so good now but was'nt Mandelson forced to resign twice for sleazy money deals before being rewarded for his actions by the plum EU job?

Also was'nt he one of the architects of the now despised Blair/New Labour project.

This is not Brown showing that he can rise above factionalism. He's demonstrating that a) There is a lack of available talent and b) he has no principles and will do literally anything to save his own skin.

Marcus Cotswell

Is it my faulty memory or was Mandelson brought down originally because he accepted a dodgy loan? Does Brown think that gives him the right 'experience' to talk about the current financial crisis. Wouldn't want a 'novice' with a clean credit record, would we?

TrevorsDen

... Or it shows the compromises Brown has had to make in order to get Nick Brown as whip.

Maybe the right way to look at this is that Brown is merely going round in circles - a rudderless PM is a sea of crises.

Trust you to give Brown credit for more brains than he actually possesses.

Brown is incompetent clueless and as we now see increasingly desperate. A man without a plan - just a horoscope.

And BTW - the media are predictably falling for the smoke and mirrors of the Mandy appointment.

David C

Mandelson in the cabinet is without power (bold move? Courage? Pfhh. Brown doesn't do courage).
McBride's usefulness had gone: Brown no longer needs an axe murderer, he needs an arch torturer; hence Nick Brown.

This means that Brown's horizon is the next GE. He is determined to stay in power until then.
I also think it is recognition that the next GE is lost.
As for an attempt to remove Labour factionalism. Yes, by simply creating two factions: Brown and the rest of the Labour party.

Dawn Dead

Mandelson: You cant put lipstick on a snake

Andrew Forbes

Ah! I've just realised my own idiocy; Mandy's coming back as a Lord, so he can't be PM. So just what is Mandy's angle?

Polly and Alice's mum

Andrew Forbes, Mandy's angle is that he gets a peerage (along with a huge EU pension) and whatever happens to Brown, he (Mandy) is sitting pretty.
And I wouldnt put it past him to stick the knife in Brown as soon as he gets the chance.

The Laughing Cavalier

Mandelson's angle is that he gets the life peerage he has long coveted. What's in it for Brown I cannot imagine

Frank P

And talking of deep holes, Peter, how's it going - proctologistically speaking?