Ex-mandarin eviscerates PM's claims on Mandelson appointment

Spectator Australia · Steerpike · Tuesday 28 April 2026

Ex-mandarin eviscerates PM's claims on Mandelson appointment

Sir Philip Barton has gone on the record about the Mandelson appointment, and the diplomatic establishment has rediscovered its objections now that the favour-trading is happening to someone else.

Barton spent four and a half years watching the machinery work and now he's telling us the machinery's broken because someone's jammed a mate into the gears. The mandarins only discover the rules matter when the appointment goes to someone who didn't ring them first. Mandelson's the symptom — the disease is a system where every vacancy is a favour waiting to be returned.

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