PETER MANDELSON’S conduct during the Labour Party’s years in power is to come under the spotlight following expressions of anger from former cabinet colleagues over his decision to rush through publication of his memoirs.
Following insights yesterday into the events behind Labour's failure to agree a post-election pact with the Liberal Democrats in May, the party is braced for more damaging revelations about Labour's 13 years in power in the book The Third Man.
Clearly annoyed by Lord Mandelson’s actions, leadership candidate Ed Miliband, who served in cabinet with him, said: “One of the lessons for Labour is we do need to move on from some of the psychodramas of the past, some of the factionalism that there was.”
The most important lesson to be learnt from the memoirs, said Mr Miliband, was that the party would be “profoundly wrong” to believe that it lost the election because of its most senior personalities, rather than its policies.
“We began as the party of the windfall tax on privatised utilities and the minimum wage in 1997. We ended up – despite doing great things – as the party defending bankers’ bonuses and pushing forward ID cards,” said Mr Miliband.
Mr Miliband's brother, David, who is also a leadership candidate, claimed not to have read extracts from the book published in yesterday's London Times.
However, he said: ““I don’t want the Labour Party to be part of a backward-looking soap opera. Peter is a very serious person and I’d imagine he wrote a very serious book.
“I think that people don’t want a soap opera, they want something about their lives . . . We’ve all got a responsibility for building a Labour Party for the future.”
Lord Mandelson’s decision to portray himself in the book, and in TV adverts promoting it, as the one who guaranteed that “two kings” could rule has annoyed many in Labour, who argue that it inflates his role and importance.
In an interview to accompany the book, Lord Mandelson directly attacked former prime minister Gordon Brown’s key allies for conducting a long-running campaign to weaken Tony Blair and to get him out of 10 Downing Street.
“The unbridled contempt that some people around Gordon had for Tony and those who worked for him was very destructive. They were constantly winding him up – partly because that’s what they felt, partly because that’s what they thought he wanted to hear,” he said.
Mr Brown’s most influential adviser during the period was Ed Balls, who is now running as a leadership candidate.
He has strongly rejected allegations that he had briefed against cabinet and parliamentary party colleagues.
“It’s not true. It never was the case. I hate that kind of politics.I’ve got no time for that kind of nasty politics.
“Were there times in my late twenties, 15 years ago, where we were, sort of, youthful and exuberant and a bit arrogant? Well, almost certainly the case, but we all grew up,” he said.
Lord Mandelson’s declaration that he would be interested in serving in a future Labour government was greeted with hilarity last night by many Labour MPs in the House of Commons, who have been scathing about the TV advert to promote the serialisation of his book.
“He says that he is prepared to serve in government, but he isn’t prepared to help get us there,” said one member of the party’s shadow cabinet furious that the memoirs have diverted attention from the Conservative/Liberal Democrats spending cuts.
