The Mandelson quagmire and murky dealing of Chagos
Planet Normal
Louisa Wells
4.7 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Book your tickets for Planet Normal: LIVE on the 24th February: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive |
You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wh42OqWtzDA
As the Prime Minister vows to release the ‘Mandelson Files’ pressure on who knew what, and when is mounting on Labour. Repeat stowaway former head of Mi6 Sir Richard Dearlove is on hand to give his expert analysis on the unfolding situation.
Allison is disgusted by the continuing scandal of Peter Mandelson and is in disbelief that Starmer et al. thought he would ever be a suitable candidate as Ambassador to the United States.
Liam thinks this scandal will change the political landscape as deeply as the expenses scandal did; in making the public scrutinise the political class even closer.
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Read Allison ‘When I met Peter Mandelson, I knew straight away he was rotten’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/03/i-knew-peter-mandelson-was-rotten/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘The US dollar is down but not out’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/02/01/the-us-dollar-is-down-but-not-out/ |
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.0 | You can't but avoid Peter Mandelson. |
| 0:12.4 | He's everywhere, and he will sidle up to you like car the snake in the jungle book. |
| 0:17.7 | Four. |
| 0:18.9 | I wasn't shocked because I think one knew enough about the man to know that there were so many |
| 0:25.6 | skeletons in the cupboard. |
| 0:28.3 | You've seen that picture of him in his underpants. |
| 0:30.8 | You could have been in there, Halligan. |
| 0:32.7 | Two. |
| 0:34.2 | I think the symbolism is terrible. |
| 0:36.2 | To give an adversary a prime location across the road from the Tower of London on a historic site, |
| 0:44.7 | why don't we just leave them in their seven buildings scattered across London, |
| 0:48.6 | which is much more appropriate in terms of symbolising the relationship? |
| 0:53.1 | One. |
| 0:57.0 | We have left off. |
| 1:01.4 | Welcome once again to Planet Normal, the Telegraph podcast with Alison Pearson. |
| 1:05.8 | Hello. |
| 1:06.9 | And me, Liam Halligan. |
| 1:09.3 | Another mad week on Planet Earth, Alison. But luckily luckily here we are aboard our beloved rocket of right thinking, |
| 1:15.6 | heading for Planet Normal. |
| 1:17.6 | And what more is there to say about Peter Mandelson co-pilot, the now thrice disgraced former Cabinet Minister, |
| 1:23.6 | who was until September, Prime Minister Kier Starman's British ambassador |
... |
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