Scrapaccino
James Forsyth 7:14pm
Peter Mandelson’s outburst about the chairman of Starbucks is set to go down in political folklore as the bookend to the mushy peas guacamole tale. (Before I’m corrected, I know it wasn’t actually Mandelson who said it, but that is the legend and, as they say, print the legend). The spiritual leader of New Labour attacking the head of the company that brought lattes and cappuccinos to middle Britain feels like the end of an era.
But to be serious, it is interesting that Mandelson got so riled by what the foam man said. I suspect that Jane Merrick is right in her analysis:
Then again, his rage could be due to the fact that Starbucks have yet to open a branch in his old Hartlepool stomping ground.“the strength of his words in the outburst - he is not exactly renowned for using the f-word - could be because Schultz's remarks are on the money. Consumer confidence is collapsing. These are desperate times, not just for the identikit coffeeshop market. Schultz hit a nerve and Mandelson's outburst shows the strain Gordon Brown and his Cabinet are under.”
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jom
February 18th, 2009 7:41pm Report this commentMr Schultz has just had to refit four shops that were trashed by the appeased islamists, as the police ran away.
Andrew
February 18th, 2009 7:42pm Report this commentThe Prince of Dimness does nothing for no reason.
We're all chortling about the Starbucks Spat, and ignoring the daily dreadful news from the Motor Industry.
Well done, chaps.
Laughing Larry
February 18th, 2009 8:01pm Report this commentThe sale of baseball bats is going through the roof and soon the heads of burglars.
colin
February 18th, 2009 8:20pm Report this commentThat mandelson didn't know who the f*ck one of the most successful men on the UK High Street was, begs the question: What the f*ck is he doing as the cabinet minister responsible for business?
AndyLeeds
February 18th, 2009 8:34pm Report this commentLoath Starbucks coffee. Over priced and bitter, which about sums up Mandelson rather neatly.
Trumpeter Lanfried
February 18th, 2009 9:02pm Report this commentYes, they are rattled. With good cause.
TrevorsDen
February 18th, 2009 10:16pm Report this commentThe Telegraph is reporting that Brown hopes to be showing we are starting to recover by April.
Well we will have to start technically recovering some time. But hopes of a practical effect by then (new jobs?) must surely be speculative to say the least.
It seems to me the points at issue electorally revolve around not just the recession, but the fact that its becoming more clear every day that Brown ideas, his view of the world, his view of how the world works, how people make it work - Brown's paradigm - is flawed. He is nothing like as clever as he likes us to think.
And we are not as thick as he thinks we are.
Bluebottle
February 18th, 2009 11:44pm Report this commentMr Schultz and his company have created wealth and jobs throughout the world, whether you like their coffee or not. "Lord" Mandelson and his ilk has done nothing but confiscate and spend wealth (some of it on themselves)others like Mr Schultz and Starbucks have created.
I know whose opinion I prefer.
Verity
February 19th, 2009 2:16am Report this commentI can't imagine anyone of their own free will buying from something called by the aspirational name "Starbucks". I am proud to say I have no idea what their product tastes like, never having given them one thin penny. Bunch of self-glorifying lefties is my guess. But I wouldn't know. I never associated with them.
Fergus Pickering
February 19th, 2009 5:03am Report this commentI like Starbucks. Nice big chairs and those coffees with whipped cream on the top. The food's good too. Expensive, surely, but you have to pay for the good things of life.My daughter andI have spent manya pleasant forty five minutes in Starbucks after a bit of Sainsburys shopping.I suppose bloody Mandelson doesn't do any of these things. God what a prick that man is!
bill
February 19th, 2009 11:38am Report this commentIt's been clear to me that Brown and Labour's paradigm has been wrong since they came to power. And whilst past performance is no guarantee of the future, having been brought up in the 60s and 70s, I knew they would ruin the country. before they were elected in 97. It was a shame the some of the electorate did not look beyond their noses in voting for them.
Hereford
February 19th, 2009 11:49am Report this commentRead this article for a full and frank assessment of this issue:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/he's-a-self%11made-billionaire-and-you're-a-sleazy-twat%2c-everyone-tells-mandelson-200902191590/
Verity
February 19th, 2009 1:26pm Report this commentI've never had a Starbucks coffee for two reasons. One: I hate the stupid, posey name. Two: It's from far left Seattle.
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