Mandelson mess and Middle East U-turns
The Mandelson appointment scandal deepens; plus Farage and Badenoch’s U-turns on Iran war
An episode of the Political Fix podcast, hosted by Financial Times, titled "Mandelson mess and Middle East U-turns" was published on March 13, 2026 and runs 36 minutes.
March 13, 2026 ·36m · Political Fix
Summary
It has been a week of red faces for party leaders. On Thursday, Keir Starmer apologised and took personal responsibility for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US – after a first round of document disclosures suggested the prime minister was largely absent from the decision-making process. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch were both busy executing awkward U-turns on their earlier vocal support for a US war on Iran that is proving distinctly unpopular with UK voters. Host Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT’s deputy political editor Jim Pickard, columnist and writer of the ‘Inside Politics’ newsletter Stephen Bush, and political editor George Parker to debate the twists and turns of the week in Westminster.Clip from: The MirrorFollow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, and Bluesky: @lucyfisher.ft.com; Jim: @PickardJE and @pickardje.bsky.social; Stephen: @stephenkb and @stephenkb.bsky.social; and George: @GeorgeWParker and @georgewparker.bsky.socialWant more? Mandelson papers: what do they show?Pressure grows on Starmer over Mandelson due diligenceEmbarrassing Iran U-turn for the right, but Keir Starmer’s problems are worseThe irrepressible Nigel FarageSign up to Stephen Bush's morning newsletter ‘Inside Politics’ for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek analysis. Get 30 days free at https://www.ft.com/InsidePoliticsOfferPolitical FIx is presented by Lucy Fisher and produced by Laurence Knight. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Audio mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Our email address is [email protected] a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode Description
It has been a week of red faces for party leaders. On Thursday, Keir Starmer apologised and took personal responsibility for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US – after a first round of document disclosures suggested the prime minister was largely absent from the decision-making process. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch were both busy executing awkward U-turns on their earlier vocal support for a US war on Iran that is proving distinctly unpopular with UK voters.
Host Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT’s deputy political editor Jim Pickard, columnist and writer of the ‘Inside Politics’ newsletter Stephen Bush, and political editor George Parker to debate the twists and turns of the week in Westminster.
Clip from: The Mirror
Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, and Bluesky: @lucyfisher.ft.com; Jim: @PickardJE and @pickardje.bsky.social; Stephen: @stephenkb and @stephenkb.bsky.social; and George: @GeorgeWParker and @georgewparker.bsky.social
Want more?
Mandelson papers: what do they show?
Pressure grows on Starmer over Mandelson due diligence
Embarrassing Iran U-turn for the right, but Keir Starmer’s problems are worse
The irrepressible Nigel Farage
Sign up to Stephen Bush's morning newsletter ‘Inside Politics’ for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek analysis.
Get 30 days free at https://www.ft.com/InsidePoliticsOffer
Political FIx is presented by Lucy Fisher and produced by Laurence Knight.
The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Audio mix by Breen Turner.
The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Our email address is political[email protected]
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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