It was a prescient and – as it turned out – incredibly optimistic sign off from Peter Mandelson after eight years as Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University.

“I hope I survive in my next job for at least half that period”, the Financial Times reported him as saying – with a smile.

As something of a serial sackee from government posts, we know Sir Keir Starmer was, to an extent, aware of the risks of appointing the ‘Prince of Darkness’ as his man in Washington.

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But in his first interview since he gave the ambassador his marching orders, the prime minister said if he had “known then what I know now” then he would not have given him the job.

For many Labour MPs, this will do little to answer questions about the slips in political judgement that led Downing Street down this disastrous alleyway.

Like the rest of the world, Sir Keir Starmer did know of Lord Mandelson’s friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he sent him to Washington.

The business secretary spelt out the reasoning for that over the weekend saying that the government judged it “worth the risk”.

This is somewhat problematic.

As you now have a government which – after being elected on the promise to restore high standards – appears to be admitting that previous indiscretions can be overlooked if the cause is important enough.

Package that up with other scandals that have resulted in departures – Louise Haigh, Tulip Siddiq, Angela Rayner – and you start to get a stink that becomes hard to shift.

But more than that, the events of the last week again demonstrate an apparent lack of ability in government to see round corners and deal with crises before they start knocking lumps out of the Prime Minister.

Remember, for many the cardinal sin here was not necessarily the original appointment of Mandelson (while eyebrows were raised at the time, there was nowhere near the scale of outrage we’ve had in the last week with many career diplomats even agreeing the with logic of the choice) but the fact that Sir Keir walked into PMQs and gave the ambassador his full throated backing when it was becoming clear to many around Westminster that he simply wouldn’t be able to stay in post.

The explanation from Downing Street is essentially that a process was playing out, and you shouldn’t sack an ambassador based on a media enquiry alone.

But good process doesn’t always align with good politics.

Something this barrister-turned-politician may now be finding out the hard way.

Shares in Tesla have surged on news that Elon Musk has snapped up stock worth more than $1bn (£741m), bolstering investor hopes the tycoon is committed to its recovery.

The purchase was revealed in a filing which showed the billionaire had bought more than 2.5 million shares last week.

Tesla‘s shares, largely flat in the year to date, rose by more than 5% on Wall St in response.

Values collapsed at the start of the year when Musk‘s-then political bromance with Donald Trump was blamed for a growing backlash against the company.

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Sales fell and Tesla premises were even attacked after he began his role at the helm of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Tesla revenues sagged in Europe too given his association with the president and his trade war, with part of the backlash also blamed on his intervention in Germany’s elections.

One of Tesla’s earliest investors told Sky News at that time that Musk should quit as Tesla’s chief executive unless he gave up the job.

His subsequent decision to step back from the president’s side since May, and the resulting war of words between them, has threatened key subsidies for the company.

It also failed to stop talk that his focus remains too broad, given all his other interests including X and Space X.

Earlier this month, in a bid to secure his commitment, Tesla released a proposed pay package that could make him the world’s first trillionaire.

The targets he must hit over the next decade are steep if he is to qualify for the share awards.

They include operating profit, sales targets and a $2trn stock market valuation – almost double today’s $1.2trn figure.

An investor vote on the proposed package is due in November.

Danni Hewson, AJ Bell’s head of financial analysis, said of the share price surge: “Markets like it when directors buy into their own companies because it suggests they are confident about returns going forward, and that applies in spades for a CEO as prominent as Elon Musk.”

Former Jeep brand CEO Antonio Filosa, now head of Stellantis, took a shot at BYD over EV sales. BYD responded with the perfect comeback.

Stellantis and BYD trade shots over German EV sales

So, who really sold more electric vehicles? Stellantis’ CEO claimed that its joint venture, Leapmotor, outsold BYD in the heart of Europe during an investor conference last week.

“Last month, I believe that Leapmotor sold more BEVs than BYD in Germany,” Filosa said at the event. BYD wasted no time, responding in a press release issued on Friday.

BYD fired back, saying it registered 8,610 vehicles in Germany in the first eight months of 2025, more than double Leapmotor’s 3,536.

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After checking official data from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), BYD registered 8,563 passenger vehicles through August, compared to Leapmotor with 3,531. Broken down by powertrain, BYD registered 5,809 all-electric vehicles (EVs) and 2,844 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), compared to Leapmotor’s 3,083 EVs and 448 PHEVs.

BYD also boasted that it outsold Alfa Romeo and nearly Jeep, two other Stellantis-owned brands, during the same period.

Alfa Romeo registered 5,222 vehicles through August, while Jeep had 8,884, barely beating out BYD. However, Jeep only sold 350 EVs and 569 PHEVs during the period. Alfa Romeo sold just 140 all-electric vehicles.

A Stellantis spokesperson clarified (via Bloomberg) that Filosa’s comments “referred only to the month of August, when Leapmotor was indeed the first Chinese brand in the country, with the highest number of battery-electric vehicle registrations and market share.” But was it really? Not according to KBA data.

Electrek’s Take

It looks like Filosa was referring to just one model, the Leapmotor T03, which was the top-selling EV in Germany last month.

Either way, taking a jab at BYD, which is quickly gaining market share not just in Europe, but in nearly all global markets (outside of the US), is bold.

It will be interesting to see how sales shape up at the end of the year in Germany and overall Europe. Both BYD and Leapmotor are expanding with new models launching, including entry-level EVs like the Dolphin Surf (BYD) and Leapmotor B05.

Source: Bloomberg, KBA