The people's flag...

I read in The Times that:

"As Peter Mandelson prepares to be ennobled today and re-enter the Cabinet after his two enforced departures, questions are being asked about the extent of his relationship with Russia’s richest man.

In his first week back in British politics, Mr Mandelson has avoided offering a clear account about his contact with Oleg Deripaska, the Russian aluminium oligarch, at a social gathering in Corfu this summer.

Asked ten days ago about the gathering, Mr Mandelson’s spokespeople in London and Brussels said that the former European Trade Commissioner only had drinks with Mr Deripaska aboard the Russian’s £80 million superyacht, the Queen K.

Mr Mandelson then told The Times that he had last seen Mr Deripaska at a dinner hosted by Rupert Murdoch in Corfu. However, well-placed sources insist that Mr Mandelson, who will become Lord Mandelson of Foy and Hartlepool today, was actually staying on board the Queen K.

He told other guests that he had been “billeted” on the yacht because Nat Rothschild, the financier, had run out of room in his five homes on the island.

Other sources have said that Mr Mandelson has also visited Mr Deripaska, who had an estimated fortune of £16 billion before the recent stock market turmoil, at home in Russia.

Concern over the extent of the acquaintance has arisen because of a potential conflict of interest between Mr Mandelson, who was the European Trade Commissioner until last week, and Mr Deripaska.

While he was Commissioner, Mr Mandelson promoted a plan to reduce EU tariffs on imported raw aluminium. After a vote by the European Council, the tariff was reduced last year from 6 per cent to 3 per cent, and mechanisms are in place to remove the tax completely from next year.

Mr Deripaska’s company, Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer, is a leading exporter to Europe, selling about one million tonnes within the trading bloc each year. At current aluminium prices the reduction will save Mr Rusal about £117 million a year."

Two things strike me about this story; first that Peter Mandelson may be about to break his personal best for the shortest time between Cabinet appointment and resignation in disgrace and second that Peter Mandelson really does like the rich -

"He told other guests that he had been “billeted” on the yacht because Nat Rothschild, the financier, had run out of room in his five homes on the island."

All together now, "the peoples' flag is deepest red..."