Touchy, touchy. The former Blair boot-licker and master of spin sounds like he's struggling with the economy he helped create. What else are people supposed to say about an economy that was based on banksters? Blair and Mandelson had no problem accepting the high flying days of yesteryear when the banks were booking ridiculous profits - which we now know were false and based on nothing - but this cuts both ways. Banking and finance generated around one third of the UK economy so bouncing back from that won't be easy, no matter how many tirades a pompous "lord" might have.
This should also serve as an example to Democrats who think you can appease the extreme right and take on their bad business ideas. They will be there with you during the good times and as soon as the situation changes, they are gone and blaming you for using their failed policies.
The business secretary, Peter Mandelson, yesterday launched an extraordinary tirade against the head of the Starbucks coffee empire, accusing him of spreading gloom and overly denigrating the state of the British economy.
Angered at remarks by the coffee company's chairman, Howard Schultz - who said the UK was in an economic "spiral" with "very, very poor" consumer confidence - Lord Mandelson accused him of spreading unnecessary misery and speaking out of turn.
Speaking at a diplomatic cocktail reception in New York, he said: "Why should I have this guy running down the country? Who the fuck is he? How the hell are they [Starbucks] doing?"
Mandelson's remarks, made in front of journalists at the official residence of the British consul-general, came amid mounting concern in diplomatic and ministerial circles over hardening US opinion towards Britain's economic woes.
British officials have been trying to persuade US economists and commentators that alarm over the country's recession is becoming exaggerated.
Earlier in the day, Schultz singled out Britain as a source of anxiety for Starbucks - which has stores in 49 countries - during an interview with the CNBC television channel.
"The place that concerns us the most is western Europe, and specifically the UK," he said. "The UK is in a spiral."
He said it had taken a year to 18 months from the beginning of the credit crunch for consumer confidence to fracture in the US, but that the deterioration had happened far more quickly in Europe once financial cracks appeared.
Asked about his biggest concerns, Schultz said: "Unemployment, the subprime mortgage crisis, particularly in the UK, and I think consumer confidence, particularly in the UK, is very, very poor."
