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Sir Keir Starmer is to make his most controversial senior appointment yet by naming Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US.

Lord Mandelson, 71, known as the “Prince of Darkness” from his days as a New Labour‘s spin doctor, will be the prime minister‘s link to Donald Trump.

‘Brutal’ figure ‘an inspired choice’ – politics latest

The former cabinet minister and Brussels commissioner is a consummate political networker and his appointment will be seen by supporters as a masterstroke.

But he has also been one of the most divisive figures in British politics over many years and his appointment will be seen by Labour left-wingers as an act of cronyism by the PM.

Lord Mandelson had to resign from Tony Blair‘s cabinet twice, first over an undeclared bank loan and then over intervening in a passport application by a top Indian businessman.

A plum job

The Washington role, seen as the most glittering diplomatic post in the UK government, is due to become vacant when current ambassador Karen Pierce steps down early next year.

The perks of the job include the luxurious ambassador’s residence in Massachusetts Avenue, a magnificent Queen Anne mansion designed by top architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Lord Mandelson’s appointment is the first political rather than diplomatic appointment to Washington since Peter Jay, former prime minister James Callaghan’s son-in-law, in 1977.

U.S. President Bill Clinton, (R) walks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair (C) and Northern Ireland Minister Peter Mandleson up the steps of the Government buildings at Stormont during his visit to Northern Ireland December 13, 2000. Clinton is to meet with leaders from the Northern Ireland assembly to discuss progress on the Good Friday Agreement. IW/PS/WS
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Mandelson alongside Tony Blair and Bill Clinton in Northern Ireland in 2000

Farage among big name backers

Sir Keir is said by insiders to believe he has the trade experience and networking abilities to boost UK interests in the US during the tricky period of a Trump second presidency – with the prospect of tariffs looming.

Crucially, he has become a close ally of Sir Keir’s new chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and is backed by Foreign Secretary David Lammy. It is claimed Lord Mandelson was seen in the Foreign Office last week.

And significantly, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, just back from talks with Trump allies, has said Lord Mandelson is “a very clever man” who can “master his brief” and would be “respected” by the president-elect’s team.

Read more:
How William and Trump’s meeting was arranged

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Trump’s threat of tariffs explained

The cap on a high-profile career

His appointment is not a total surprise. For the past month, he has been seen by Labour insiders as the clear frontrunner on a shortlist of four, also including former foreign secretary David Miliband.

The others were Baroness Ashton, also a former senior Brussels official, and Baroness Amos, a former international development secretary under Mr Blair.

Mr Miliband’s name was touted by Sue Gray, Sir Keir’s now ousted chief of staff, while Baronesses Amos and Ashton, who have strong links to the Democrats, were seen as a good fit if Kamala Harris had won the presidential election.

For Lord Mandelson, the appointment is likely to cap a high-profile political career which began as a TV producer and then Labour’s director of communications under Neil Kinnock in 1985.

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock (L) and Minister Without Portfolio Peter Mandelson listen to speeches on the first day of the Labour Party Conference September 29. Mandelson was unsuccessful in his attempt to secure a place on Labour's National Executive Committee with 68,023 votes it was announced today. BRITAIN LABOUR
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Mandelson was a speechwriter for former Labour leader Neil Kinnock

‘A fighter, not a quitter…’

He was seen as a brilliant if ruthless spin doctor, who masterminded the birth of New Labour but would berate newspaper editors when unfavourable stories were written by their political journalists.

He became MP for Hartlepool in 1992 and helped propel Mr Blair to the leadership of the party after John Smith’s death in 1994, a move that led to a bitter feud with Gordon Brown.

Then he got his first cabinet job, trade and industry secretary, in 1998, but was forced to quit months later after failing to declare a home loan from Labour millionaire Geoffrey Robinson to his building society.

He bounced back as Northern Ireland secretary in 1999, but was forced to resign a second time over claims he helped businessman Srichand Hinduja with an application for UK citizenship.

When he held his seat in Hartlepool in the 2001 general election, he made a passionate and defiant victory speech in which he declared: “I’m a fighter, not a quitter.”

Britain's Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson, stands next to a stall selling clocks at the federation of small businesses conference in Aberdeen, Scotland March 19, 2010. REUTERS/David Moir (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)
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Mandelson was MP for Hartlepool from 1992 until 2004

…until he was

Yet three years later he did quit as an MP, when he became a trade commissioner in Brussels, which supporters in his new post claim gave him vital experience in trade talks with president-elect Trump.

But in his most spectacular political comeback until now, in 2008 his old foe Gordon Brown, by now prime minister but facing challenges to his leadership, brought him back as business secretary with a peerage.

A year later Mr Brown awarded him the grand title, previously held by Michael Heseltine under John Major, of first secretary of state, a position he held until Labour’s election defeat in 2010.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) and Business Secretary Peter Mandelson listen to questions at an Employment Summit in central London January 12, 2009. Brown pledged on Monday to spend 500 million pounds ($754 million) to stem rising unemployment caused by the financial crisis. With the jobless total already at a decade-high and set to climb further as companies hit by the credit crunch lay off thousands of workers, Brown said he was determined to not to let unemployment spiral out of
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Mandelson was brought back into the fold by Gordon Brown ahead of the 2010 election

Blair’s famous quote

But he was very much a Blairite rather than a soulmate of Mr Brown. And in the run-up to Sir Keir’s election victory this year he was back in the fold, offering advice on campaigning and policy.

Acknowledging that Mr Mandelson was a controversial and divisive figure, Mr Blair declared in 1996: “My project will be complete when the Labour Party learns to love Peter Mandelson.”

Clearly the current Labour leadership loves him sufficiently to hand him this plum job, though many on the left of the party will be furious about his appointment.

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Teenagers who murdered Max Dixon and Mason Rist in Bristol detained for life

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Teenagers who murdered Max Dixon and Mason Rist in Bristol detained for life

Four teenagers who murdered two boys in Bristol in a case of mistaken identity have been detained for life.

Riley Tolliver, 18, a 16-year-old boy, a 17-year-old boy, and getaway driver Antony Snook, 45, were convicted of the murders of Mason Rist, 15, and 16-year-old Max Dixon in November.

A 15-year-old boy was also found guilty of the murder of Max after previously pleading guilty to the murder of Mason.

Tolliver was jailed for life at Bristol Crown Court today and will serve at least 23 years and 47 days.

The judge also handed the 17-year-old – Kodishai Wescott, who was named for the first time in court – a life sentence, with a minimum term of 23 years and 44 days.

Read more: Teenagers have ‘taken my heart’, mother of victim says

Mason Rist and  Max Dixon
Pic: Handout/Avon and Somerset Police
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Mason Rist and Max Dixon. Pic: Handout/Avon and Somerset Police

The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was detained for life, and will serve at least 18 years and 44 days.

The 15-year-old, who also cannot be named, was handed a life sentence, too. He will serve a minimum term of 15 years and 229 days.

Body worn footage of the arrest of Riley Tolliver. 
PicAvon and Somerset Police/PA
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Body-worn footage of the arrest of Riley Tolliver. Pic: Avon and Somerset Police/PA

Mrs Justice May told the 15-year-old and 16-year-old youths as she sentenced them: “The boys you killed were Mason Rist and Max Dixon. They were your age. They had done nothing wrong.

“Max and Mason’s families must go on without them in a different way. Your lives will change too. As Mason’s sister said, there are no winners here.”

Earlier, Chloe Rist, Mason’s sister, brought his ashes into court and held them as she read a victim impact statement to his killers before they were sentenced.

At the end of her statement, she told them: “This is Mason’s ashes and this is what you’ve done. If anyone is upset about me bringing them to court today, that is all I have left of him.

“I shouldn’t have to look at my brother’s bone fragments either. I also have a piece of his hair which has his blood on it, if you want to see it?

“This is my dead brother’s handprint. Another thing you’ve done. I should be able to hold my brother’s hand, not look at it on a piece of paper. This is all I have left of him.”

As Ms Rist showed the defendants the items they remained expressionless in the dock.

Antony Snook
Pic::Avon and Somerset Police/PA
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Antony Snook. Pic: Avon and Somerset Police/PA

Snook, who acted as a getaway driver for the killers, was jailed for 38 years last month.

During the trial, Bristol Crown Court heard how the group wrongly believed their victims, who had gone out to get pizza, were behind an attack on a house with bricks in the Hartcliffe area of the city earlier in the evening of Saturday 27 January.

Mason Rist and Max Dixon.
Pic: Avon and Somerset Police/PA
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Mason Rist and Max Dixon. Pic: Avon and Somerset Police/PA

Max and Mason were chased and attacked with weapons, including machetes, a bat, and a sword.

The boys suffered “instant severe blood loss” after being stabbed and died of their wounds later that night in the Knowle West area.

The 33-second attack on the two boys was captured by a CCTV camera on Mason’s house.

The court heard the victims “had absolutely nothing to do with any earlier incident”.

On Tuesday Jamie Ogbourne, 27, and Bailey Wescott, 23, were each sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to five years and three months in jail for helping the teenagers after they committed the murders.

The court heard how the pair helped clean weapons used in the fatal attack, with Wescott lighting a fire to dispose of items and Ogbourne arranging taxis and a change of clothing for two of the teenage murderers.

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Teenagers who killed son by mistake have ‘taken my heart’, mother of Bristol murder victim says

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Teenagers who killed son by mistake have 'taken my heart', mother of Bristol murder victim says

The mother of a murdered teenager says the child killers responsible have “taken my heart” and don’t “understand the impact” of what they’ve done.

Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were stabbed to death by a group of teenage boys in a case of mistaken identity in Bristol in January.

Those responsible – now aged 15, 16 and 17 – along with 18-year-old Riley Tolliver – were given life sentences at Bristol Crown Court today.

In November, their getaway driver, Anthony Snook, 45, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 38 years.

Max Dixon pictured with his mother Leanne
Pic: Handout/Avon and Somerset Police
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Max Dixon pictured with his mother Leanne. Pic: Handout/Avon and Somerset Police

Mason Rist and Max Dixon were stabbed in January this year. Pic: Family handout via Avon and Somerset Police/PA
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Mason Rist and Max Dixon were stabbed in January this year. Pic: Family handout via Avon and Somerset Police/PA

Max’s mother, Leanne Ekland, has spoken of the panic she went through when she found out her son was dying on a nearby street.

“Me and my partner Trevor, we were up in bed,” she told Sky News, describing the night of the murders. “Max was at home, in his bedroom on his PlayStation and we didn’t think anything of it.

“Next minute a car pulled up outside my house and was shouting at my window – ‘Max has been stabbed’ – and I said: ‘No he’s not, he’s in bed’.”

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A double murder in a case of mistaken identity

Leanne rushed to Ilminster Avenue in the Knowle West area of the city and was allowed by paramedics to sit with her son.

“It was just such a panic, I don’t know what I was thinking, I was sat down on the floor and the paramedics were cutting his clothes,” she said.

Max had met his friend Mason at his home on the Saturday evening to get pizza – but within seconds of leaving were attacked by a group armed with machetes.

The gang were seeking revenge for an attack with bricks on a house in Hartcliffe in Bristol an hour earlier – but both boys had nothing to do with it.

Max Dixon..
Pic: Avon and Somerset Police/PA
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Max Dixon. Pic: Avon and Somerset Police/PA

‘They didn’t do anything wrong’

The gang’s deadly attack was caught on Mason’s home CCTV.

Leanne said: “When I see Max and Mason on the CCTV, when I see them meet up with each other, I just look at him and I can see him smiling.

“And what’s sad is those boys don’t know what’s going to happen to them when they walk out that gate.

“They must have been petrified. They were just going to get some food.

“They’ve done nothing wrong.”

Leanne added: “I had no idea why they were targeted. Then obviously when I was told, that’s hard. That’s hard to comprehend.

“Because there’s no reason for Max and Mason not to be here today. They didn’t do anything wrong… but sadly they lost their lives.”

Mason Rist with his mum Nikki and his cousin
Pic: Handout/Avon and Somerset Police
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Mason Rist with his mum Nikki and his cousin. Pic: Handout/Avon and Somerset Police

Her child’s murderers, Leanne said, have “taken my heart”.

She added: “I love my girls deeply but they’ve also taken my son. I now need to repair my life without him.

“Everyone says it will get better but I don’t think it will. Because he was a massive part of my family and I don’t want to move on.

“He was the glue of our family and to think I’ve got to move on without him is hard. They need to understand that – they destroyed me.”

‘Trial was hardest thing I’ve ever had to do’

Leanne attended much of the trial at Bristol Crown Court, which showed CCTV footage of the attack.

She said no family should have to go through that sort of process.

“It was very difficult to listen to,” she said. “But as Max’s mum I wanted to hear everything, and I wanted to have questions answered and I wanted to know what my boy went through in the last minutes of his life.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But it’s the only thing I can do for Max… to sit through it and know what he went through.”

All five defendants were found guilty of murder and Leanne said that “allowed me to breathe”.

She added: “When that guilty verdict came back I could actually breathe a little bit because someone was held accountable for those deaths. And it just felt like a weight off my shoulders.”

Mason Rist with his grandmother Gail
Image:
Mason Rist with his grandmother Gail

‘A lot of parents know what children are up to’

Leanne has worked with her son’s local football club to introduce emergency bleed control kits and has spoken to pupils about the risks of violence and carrying knives at Max’s school.

She said there needs to be more education about knife crime, and children should be taught about the “ripple effect” after using a weapon.

Leanne added: “I think it starts at home. With the parents. Because I think there’s a lot of parents out there that know what their children are up to.

“They know what they’re carrying. And I think obviously it starts at home, before we go anywhere else.”

Asked what she has held close to her since her son’s death, she replied: “Everything. I still have a plate and cup in Max’s bedroom which I will not take out as that’s what he used that night.

“Everything around me, that belongs to Max, is precious and I won’t get rid of that.”

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Water bills to rise by average of 36% over next five years, says water regulator Ofwat

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Water bills to rise by average of 36% over next five years, says water regulator Ofwat

Average water bills in England and Wales will increase by 36% over the next five years, the water regulator Ofwat has said.

The rise is equivalent to an average extra cost of £31 per year.

Water companies had asked for an average rise of 40%.

The regulator’s draft determinations issued in July said bills would rise by an average of 21% up to 2030.

 

It comes as almost 60,000 homes across Hampshire are without water because of a “technical issue” at a Southern Water supply works.

Southern Water customers will experience the biggest rise in the cost of bills of all eleven water and wastewater companies – a 53% hike. The company had sought an increase of 83%.

Customers of Wessex Water will have the lowest, 21%, bill rise.

The 16 million customers of the UK’s biggest water company Thames Water will see bills become 35% more expensive, below the 53% increase requested by the utility.

By 2030 a typical annual bill will cost £588.

Paying the most every year in five years’ time will be Dwr Cymru customers, with an average annual bill of £645.

Read more:
Full list of what bills will cost where you are

Why are bills going up?

Bills are going up as the utilities face a range of problems – including higher borrowing costs on large levels of debt, creaking infrastructure and record sewage outflows into waterways.

Ofwat has now agreed to investment plans by the water companies. Funding this investment is another reason bills have been allowed to rise.

The regulator has approved £104bn in funding, above the £85bn agreed with firms in Ofwat’s draft determination but just below the £108bn the companies wanted.

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Water companies to increase bills

Higher bills will not solve the financial woes at some of the utilities, including Thames Water, which this week won court approval to pursue the next phase in securing a £3bn emergency loan.

If approval had not been granted Thames Water told the High Court it would run out of cash by 24 March and would likely be pushed into a government-backed special administration regime.

Ofwat chief executive David Black said: “We recognise it is a difficult time for many, and we are acutely aware of the impact that bill increases will have for some customers. That is why it is vital that companies are stepping up their support for customers who struggle to pay.

“We have robustly examined all funding requests to make sure they provide value for money and deliver real improvements while ensuring the sector can attract the levels of investment it needs to meet environmental requirements.”

Read more from Sky News:
Police attending less than a quarter of shoplifting reports
Murder suspect caught on Google Street View with body

How have companies and the government reacted?

A representative for the water industry body Water UK said: “This will be the largest amount of money ever spent on the natural environment and will help to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.

“We understand increasing bills is never welcome. To protect vulnerable customers, companies will triple the number of households receiving support with their bills to three million over the next five years.”

The Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “The public are right to be angry after they have been left to pay the price of Conservative failure.

“This Labour government will ringfence money earmarked for investment so it can never be diverted for bonuses and shareholder payouts. We will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.”

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