Peter Mandelson criticised after saying Ukraine should give ‘unequivocal backing’ to Trump’s plan
Good morning. Domestic politics has not gone away, but it is all being eclipsed at the moment by the Ukraine crisis, and the efforts Keir Starmer is leading to develop a Europe-led peace plan and – crucially – to keep the US and Europe at least broadly aligned. The stakes are enormous. Labour is very proud of the role the Attlee government played in creating Nato, but now its future as a funtioning alliance is in doubt. In his press conference yesterday Starmer said he did not accept the US is now an “unreliable ally”. But many Europeans who watched President Trump and JD Vance bully and belittle President Zelenskyy on camera in the Oval Office on Friday will have come to a different conclusion.
Starmer is expected to make a statement to MPs about his visit to the White House, and yesterday’s summit in London, and that should start after 3.30pm.
Here is our overnight story about yesterday’s summit.
Luke Pollard, the defence minister, has been giving interviews this morning, and one issue he has had to address is a comment from Peter Mandelson, the former Labour cabinet minister and new UK ambassador to Washington, which implied that London is siding more with Trump than Zelenskyy. In an interview with ABC yesterday, Mandelson said:
We need a very radical reset. The reset has to consist of the US and Ukraine getting back on the same page. And President Zelenskyy giving his unequivocal backing to the initiative that President Trump is taking to end the war and to bring a just and lasting peace to Ukraine.
And the Europeans too need to back the calls for a ceasefire. And by the way, I think that Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow.
This provoked an angry backlash in the UK. James Cleverly, the Conservative former foreign secretary, posted this response on social media.
The UK ambassador to Washington isn’t meant to communicate his own opinion, he is meant to communicate the UK government opinion.
Lammy and Starmer need to grip this.
And Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, posted this.
What is Mandelson up to? You cannot square what the Prime Minister said this morning with this. What is the Government’s actual position?
Our man in DC should be securing US protection for our brave Ukrainian allies, not telling President Zelensky what to do.
In an interview with Sky News this morning, asked if Mandelson’s comments reflected government policy, Pollard replied:
No. It’s certainly right that Ukrainians want peace. I think of all the people on our continent that want peace, the Ukrainians want it the most.
But we’re still in discussions, diplomatic engagement with our European, US and Ukrainian friends as to the shape of that deal.
But it’s certainly right that the war could stop tomorrow if President Putin stopped his illegal and unprovoked aggression. He could stop this war.
Asked if Mandelson misspoke, Pollard replied:
That’s not government policy and you wouldn’t expect me to commentate on every ups and downs in negotiations.
According to Politico’s London Playbook, Mandelson believes his comments have been wrongly interpreted. The ambassador “was reflecting government policies to an American audience, and any suggestion otherwise is hair-splitting nonsense”, a Washington embassy insider told Playbook.
I will be covering UK aspects of this story, but its ramifications go well beyond this country. Martin Belam is covering events from an international perspective on our Europe live blog.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, holds a phone-in on LBC.
10.30am: The Covid inquiry’s module dealing with PPE procurement opens with statements from counsel.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Lunchtime: Keir Starmer and John Healey attend a lunchtime event to promote a government initiative to help small businesses bid for defence contracts.
2.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 3.30pm: Keir Starmer is expected to make a Commons statement about Ukraine, and his attempts to develop a Europe-led peace plan.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Key events
The next caller suggests it is time for Farage to resign as Reform UK leader. He says Farage now represents the establishment. He says he and Keir Starmer chat have “chinwags” together in parliament, he says.
Farage says he does not think the caller is a genuine Reform UK supporter. He says he cannot help it if Starmer wants to talk to him in the Commons chamber.
Asked if he regretted speaking at CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference) in the US after Steve Bannon gave a Nazi salute there, Farage said that he had been going to CPAC for years and did not regret speaking.
He said he did not think Bannon was giving a Nazi salute. He said he thought Bannon was actually mocking Elon Musk over the gesture he made that was described as Nazi salute. He said Musk and Bannon were at war with each other.
Asked about his previous support for Andrew Tate, Farage said that he described Tate as a powerful voice for young men. That was not necessarily a good thing, he said. He said he does not support all the things Tate says.
Farage says Zelenskyy handled Oval Office meeting with Trump ‘very badly’
The next caller asked about President Trump’s meeting with President Zelenskyy, and whether Russia should be prosecuted for warm crimes.
Farage described the Oval Office meeting as a spat.
He said there have been a million casualties from the war. The longer it goes on, the more that suits Russia, he said.
He said, before President Zelenskyy left the White House, he released he had “overplayed his hand”. Zelenskyy wanted to go back and sign the mineral deal.
Farage claimed good would come from the meeting.
Q: Do you think Trump and JD Vance bullied Zelenskyy?
Farage said Zelenskyy played it “very badly”. He said he was “very unwise to tell the Americans what would happen to them if they didn’t back him”.
Q: Was it right for a journalist to ask Zelenskyy why he was not wearing a suit?
Farage said that if he was turning up at the White House, he would wear a suit.
Q: What about Churchill?
He was not dealing with Trump, said Farage.
Q: Did anyone from Starmer’s team speak to you ahead of the meeting with Trump?
No, said Farage.
But he said Starmer was respectful towards Trump. Trump is “quite old fashioned” in matters like this, Farage said.
And he said the Ukraine situation showed that Starmer is now exploliting the benefits of Brexit. In a statement at the weekend, Starmer said that the UK was in a unique position to mediate between Europe and the US, he said.
Farage admits he was ‘very surprised’ to hear Trump back Labour’s Chagos Islands plan
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has been taking questions in an LBC phone-in.
The first question was about the Chagos Islands.
Q: Why were you so wrong on the Chagos Islands? You said President Trump would not back it, but he said last week he would.
Nigel Farage said Trump only said he was “inclined” to back the plan.
And he said he was “very surprised” by what Trump said.
He went on to say that he he had spoken to some administration insiders about this. He said the US won’t pay a penny towards the deal.
Q: But you got this wrong?
Farage said he thought that Trump might change his mind.
Peter Mandelson criticised after saying Ukraine should give ‘unequivocal backing’ to Trump’s plan
Good morning. Domestic politics has not gone away, but it is all being eclipsed at the moment by the Ukraine crisis, and the efforts Keir Starmer is leading to develop a Europe-led peace plan and – crucially – to keep the US and Europe at least broadly aligned. The stakes are enormous. Labour is very proud of the role the Attlee government played in creating Nato, but now its future as a funtioning alliance is in doubt. In his press conference yesterday Starmer said he did not accept the US is now an “unreliable ally”. But many Europeans who watched President Trump and JD Vance bully and belittle President Zelenskyy on camera in the Oval Office on Friday will have come to a different conclusion.
Starmer is expected to make a statement to MPs about his visit to the White House, and yesterday’s summit in London, and that should start after 3.30pm.
Here is our overnight story about yesterday’s summit.
Luke Pollard, the defence minister, has been giving interviews this morning, and one issue he has had to address is a comment from Peter Mandelson, the former Labour cabinet minister and new UK ambassador to Washington, which implied that London is siding more with Trump than Zelenskyy. In an interview with ABC yesterday, Mandelson said:
We need a very radical reset. The reset has to consist of the US and Ukraine getting back on the same page. And President Zelenskyy giving his unequivocal backing to the initiative that President Trump is taking to end the war and to bring a just and lasting peace to Ukraine.
And the Europeans too need to back the calls for a ceasefire. And by the way, I think that Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow.
This provoked an angry backlash in the UK. James Cleverly, the Conservative former foreign secretary, posted this response on social media.
The UK ambassador to Washington isn’t meant to communicate his own opinion, he is meant to communicate the UK government opinion.
Lammy and Starmer need to grip this.
And Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, posted this.
What is Mandelson up to? You cannot square what the Prime Minister said this morning with this. What is the Government’s actual position?
Our man in DC should be securing US protection for our brave Ukrainian allies, not telling President Zelensky what to do.
In an interview with Sky News this morning, asked if Mandelson’s comments reflected government policy, Pollard replied:
No. It’s certainly right that Ukrainians want peace. I think of all the people on our continent that want peace, the Ukrainians want it the most.
But we’re still in discussions, diplomatic engagement with our European, US and Ukrainian friends as to the shape of that deal.
But it’s certainly right that the war could stop tomorrow if President Putin stopped his illegal and unprovoked aggression. He could stop this war.
Asked if Mandelson misspoke, Pollard replied:
That’s not government policy and you wouldn’t expect me to commentate on every ups and downs in negotiations.
According to Politico’s London Playbook, Mandelson believes his comments have been wrongly interpreted. The ambassador “was reflecting government policies to an American audience, and any suggestion otherwise is hair-splitting nonsense”, a Washington embassy insider told Playbook.
I will be covering UK aspects of this story, but its ramifications go well beyond this country. Martin Belam is covering events from an international perspective on our Europe live blog.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, holds a phone-in on LBC.
10.30am: The Covid inquiry’s module dealing with PPE procurement opens with statements from counsel.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Lunchtime: Keir Starmer and John Healey attend a lunchtime event to promote a government initiative to help small businesses bid for defence contracts.
2.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 3.30pm: Keir Starmer is expected to make a Commons statement about Ukraine, and his attempts to develop a Europe-led peace plan.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Article by:Source: Andrew Sparrow
