It's tragic that a decent PM will be brought down by Mandelson's sleaze but it's a matter of when, not if | Polly Toynbee

"Labour's King Rat Peter Mandelson has again cast his sulphurous odour of villainy around the palace, and contamination may drag a decent, well-intentioned Labour leader down with him. That's the tragedy. Nothing about Keir Starmer's life purpose, attitudes, tastes, morals or values resembles Mandelson's and his venal world of corrupted power, where mega-billions buy anyone anything. Not friends; they had nothing in common."

"others in the cabinet, too, were surely seduced by that aura of grownup reckoning with the real world. McSweeney was widely reported to be the one pushing Mandelson's appointment to Washington, a clever idea to plant a man without scruples to schmooze a president with even fewer. Clever, that is, if you can skip past the minor irrelevance of his intimate friendship with a man who trafficked young girls for influence with the mighty."

Peter Mandelson's return is portrayed as a toxic influence in Westminster that risks contaminating Keir Starmer's leadership despite stark personal differences. Mandelson is described as having used Labour as a vehicle and exerted malign, worldly influence over the party for decades. Morgan McSweeney is identified as a Mandelson protege who pushed for Mandelson's Washington appointment, despite links to a man accused of trafficking young girls to curry influence. Many cabinet figures are said to have been seduced by Mandelson's pragmatic cynicism. Labour has erupted in visceral outrage over misjudgment and attempts to withhold key Mandelson documents in the Commons.

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