Hard work should pay. Unlock quality journalism that champions free enterprise. | | Lord Mandelson was led from his London home by plain clothes police officers |  | Gordon Rayner Associate Editor | Kemi Badenoch described it as “the defining moment of Keir Starmer’s premiership”. Ben Riley-Smith, our Political Editor, called it a “full stop” on the New Labour project.
Either way, images of Lord Mandelson being led to an unmarked police car while under arrest were not only dramatic but also highly problematic for a Prime Minister who is fighting for his job.
Plain clothes police officers arrived at the former Labour cabinet minister’s multimillion-pound home, near Regent’s Park, around 4.30pm on Monday.
He was released from Wandsworth police station at 1.15am this morning – about nine hours after his arrest – and was seen arriving home before 2am.
In the coming weeks, we can expect the release of documents relating to what Sir Keir was told about the peer when he was vetted for the role of ambassador to the US, a posting cut short over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
We already know Sir Keir was told that Lord Mandelson had stayed in Epstein’s New York home while the financier was in prison for child sex offences, and that he had celebrated a birthday at Epstein’s Paris apartment after he was charged with those crimes. | Lord Mandelson returns home after release from custody | | His friendship with Jeffrey Epstein has come under fresh scrutiny after US authorities released millions of new files | The renewed focus on Sir Keir’s judgment comes in the week that he faces a reckoning in the Gorton and Denton by-election, in which one opinion poll has Labour trailing in third. Whether he makes it as far as the May local elections remains up for debate.
Lord Mandelson, who was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, denies any wrongdoing. As Will Bolton, our Crime Correspondent writes, the alleged offence for which both he and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have been questioned is one of the most difficult to prove.
However, as Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said: “Watching the man who [Sir Keir] appointed to the highest position in our diplomatic service getting arrested by police is an image which I think is going to stay with us for many, many years to come.”
Read the full story of Lord Mandelson’s arrest here ➤
Mandelson’s downfall puts the entire New Labour project in the dock ➤
‘Dear Gordon’ email was in Epstein’s inbox 38 minutes after reaching PM ➤ | | Charles Moore The Epstein affair does not undermine the integrity of the Royal family. They deserve sympathy, not reproof Continue reading ➤ Robert Tombs Britain has been broken by bad ideas before: but seldom by so many at once Continue reading ➤ Sketch by Tim Stanley We’re a long way off, but I predict that Mandy would love prison Continue reading ➤ | | To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. | | Grace Bell says she’s the happiest she’s ever been after giving birth to baby Hugo | .png) | | On the Finnish island of Säkkiluoto, the morning of Sept 22 2018 was interrupted by the arrival of hundreds of commandos, writes Adrian Blomfield, Senior Foreign Correspondent, from Turku, Finland. In a raid on the island, at one of 17 properties owned by the shady Russian real estate firm Airiston Helmi, investigators found nine piers, a helipad, a camouflaged pool, barracks and advanced communications equipment.
Experts feared Kremlin links. Intelligence officers from three European agencies warn that Russia has since replicated the project across the Continent, buying properties near military sites as “Trojan horses” for sabotage, surveillance and covert attacks. Nato may be powerless to respond. This piece of revelatory journalism is only available to subscribers. Click below and sign up to read it.
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Russian soldiers being killed faster than Kremlin can recruit them ➤
Also, today marks four years since the war in Ukraine began. To cover the event, our Ukraine: The Latest podcast is now available in video form on YouTube. You can also sign up to their newsletter here. | |  | | Britain’s job market is mired in gloom – but not necessarily for everyone, with analysis by The Telegraph showing that some sectors are actually on the up. However, it’s not good news for postal workers and those employed in hospitality, and Labour’s workers’ rights reforms might be about to make things even worse… Continue reading ➤ | | | How many of us dream of owning a château in France? For Xavier Bhoyroo and Natasha Manners, this dream has become a reality. They have been handed the keys to a £250,000, three-storey home in Normandy after winning Channel 4’s Chateau DIY: Win the Dream. Now, they’re faced with an even bigger challenge – adapting the château to their needs, and embedding themselves into a local community with a reputation for being snooty to English interlopers. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | Caroline Sauvadon, Anaïs de Vos and Marie-Hélène Brice all suffered alleged abuse at the hands of Christian Nègre, a senior culture ministry official | | Henry Samuel, our Paris Correspondent, writes: Marie-Hélène Brice accepted a coffee from the top ministry official and strolled along the banks of the Seine. She thought it was a job interview – but it was actually a humiliation ritual. Marie-Hélène is one of seven women who told me of their alleged abuse at the hands of Christian Nègre, a human resources director at France’s culture ministry. Police say there could be nearly 250 more victims of his sadistic power play. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | Bill Diamond, current president of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in California, spends his days contemplating vast distances and civilisations he may never see | | Earlier this month, Barack Obama sparked a media frenzy when he said he believed, on the balance of probabilities, that aliens were real. What do the experts think? Bill Diamond, one of the world’s leading extraterrestrial hunters, tells Emily Smith why he shares the former president’s belief in life “out there”, what form he thinks aliens take, and how they will get in touch (don’t expect flying saucers). Continue reading ➤ | | | A loss of confidence and withdrawal from loved ones may be dismissed as anxiety. However, various studies by neurologists have highlighted that sustained personality shifts could signal that something far more serious is occurring within the brain. Here are the key signs to look out for, and what to do about them. For subscribers only ➤ Below is another helpful article to get you started this morning: - Taking a bottle to a dinner party? Forget wine: savvy guests are now bringing olive oil instead, and brands are raising prices to match. We’ve tried them all to help you find the best value.
| | Kenneth Williams ‘could swoop from acidulous poshness to corrosive cockney in the space of a sentence’ | Flared nostrils, a nasal voice, a hint of disdain – few performers had such an array of recognisable trademarks as Kenneth Williams.
The performer, best known for the Carry On films, was a fixture of British cultural life for 30 years until his death in 1988. He was adored, but Williams was a complicated man, with his homosexuality often taking him to the brink of despair.
A few years after Williams’ death, Russell Davies was offered the chance to edit his diaries. What he unearthed confirmed that this seemingly biddable showbiz star was deeply unhappy, with diary entries often detailing his hypochondria, cruelly savaging co-stars, or simply showing his profound loneliness.
One hundred years on from Williams’ birth, Davies (best known as the chairman of Radio 4’s Brain of Britain) reflects on the many personalities of Williams: working-class autodidact, art connoisseur and tortured genius.
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Plus, The Telegraph is proud to be the Oxford Literary Festival’s official media partner. The 2026 programme, running from Sat 21 March to Sun 29 March, has now been announced. | Are you going bananas? While Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, is away, Kate Moore is on hand to share an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Kate writes...
It’s been a fruitful few days here on the Letters Desk. Over the weekend, Gavin Charlton Brown put it to the nation that bananas belong in the fridge, not the fruit bowl. Apparently, this keeps them fresh for longer, despite instructions on the supermarket label warning against refrigeration. Mr Brown found the advice “strange, as they will have been refrigerated to get from their tropical paradise to here in Berkshire”.
Personally, I prefer for at least two bananas in every bunch to reach the end of their natural lifespan. Come the weekend, fully browned fruit can be smashed with a fork – a most satisfying task – to make banana bread. However I’m aware that an over-ripe banana is anathema to some. So the question remains: should one really “fridge” a banana?
David Hughes thought otherwise. “When I started in my family’s greengrocery business 65 years ago, bananas came in wooden boxes lined with straw to protect them from extreme temperatures, particularly very cold conditions... I often shared my office with boxes of bananas in the winter months to protect them from spoiling due to the cold conditions in our warehouse. I can’t understand how chilling them can be beneficial.”
Jeremy Hamilton-Miller raised another problem with the refrigeration option: “In my experience, when bananas are kept in the fridge they impart their taste on other foods stored there. Bacon rashers are badly affected in this way.”
Perhaps a little more ingenuity is required. Dr Brian L Smith presented his own strategy: “We have an insulated yellow bag about a foot square with a drawstring closure. Bananas stored in this and in the fridge last for weeks as the insulation stops them from being rendered too cold and going brown.”
Surely the prize for most original solution went to Janet Haines, who wrote: “I keep bananas in the oven. It is an insulated box, cooler than the room and warmer than the fridge – the perfect temperature. I just have to remember to remove them before baking.” As we’ve already established, I love a baked banana, but I’m not sure even I could manage the whole bunch in one go. Are your bananas chilling in the fridge, or basking elsewhere in the house? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. | |
Which US government official was filmed celebrating with the Team USA ice hockey players after they won gold at the Winter Olympics? | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was TELEMETRY. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. | |
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