Peter Mandelson seems to be employing an interesting new strategy to win over Labour backbenchers concerned about his proposals to "rescue" Royal Mail.
"If we put this off and don't deal with it now, it may be dealt with by another government, and would they sort it out in the way we would with regard to pension rights, etc …?" Mandelson asked on the Andrew Marr show this morning.
Only a true master of spin could use the prospect of losing the next election as a threat with which to push through unpopular Labour policies.
The evil genius also seized the opportunity to coin a new nickname for Gordon Brown – not the great "clunking fist", as coined by Tony Blair, or Mr Bean, as coined by Vince Cable. No: Mandelson fondly referred to his former political foe as someone who "gathers and sorts out problems like a combine harvester" …with new best friends like that, eh?
