Mandy: Even in the 1970s I was relatively influential

Earlier this week, Peter Mandelson castigated the Tories in his Labour conference speech for their lack of commitment to industrial activism

When did you last hear David Cameron or George Osborne last say anything about Britain's industrial future?

Such a line of attack would have been pretty much unimaginable only a few years ago. New Labour bought into the Thatcherite shibboleth that the only indispensible industrial policy was not to have one at all.

The Tories may try to label this as a return to 1970s-style dirigisme. In fact, you get the impression Mandy would quite like that. Labour conference this week was all about stressing the new, post-crash dividing line: government action is needed to deal with the recession, and the Tories would do nothing. The new bogey decade is the Thatcherite 1980s where the Government 'did nothing' to help out-of-work young people.

Mandy warms to this theme in an article on youth unemployment for the Young Fabian Anticiaptions magazine, published this week (as ever, check for modesty):

Back in the 1970s, I chaired the British Youtyh Council and whilst there published what was then a relatively influential report: "Youth Unemployment: Causes and Curses". I remember taking it to the Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan, in Downing Street to discuss the issue of young people and their prospects.

Even then, the now First Secretary of State was relatively infleuntial!

Well said Mandy!

It's not often I unreservedly agree with Peter Mandelson. But here ...

Only a matter of days after London Mayor Boris Johnson used the f-word against Keith Vaz, Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson has used it to put down the chairman of Starbucks – but while Johnson was swearing in what he thought was a private telephone conversation, Mandelson was talking in front of the press at an official event.

Speaking on the American CNBC TV channel about how the credit crunch is affecting his business, Howard Schultz had said: "The place that concerns us the most is western Europe, and specifically the UK. The UK is in a spiral." He added that his biggest concerns were "unemployment, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, particularly in the UK, and I think consumer confidence, particularly in the UK, is very, very poor".

Eager to dispel the general feeling in the US that the UK economy is in extremely poor shape, Mandelson said on the same TV programme: "The UK is not spiralling, although I've noticed Starbucks is in a great deal of trouble – but that might be because of their over-expansion given the state of the market. So please don't project Starbucks on to the UK economy as a whole."

But it was when speaking at a diplomatic cocktail reception at the official residence of the British consul-general in New York that Mandelson really lost his cool. He said: "Why should I have this guy running down the country? Who the f*** is he?" Then he asked of Starbucks: "How the hell are they doing?"

The answer to this question is that Starbucks' profits fell by 69 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 and the company has announced that it is to close 300 outlets on top of 600 that shut last year. Total jobs lost could come to around 7000.

Worth reproducing in full, I think. Hattip: Public Servant, obv.