LABOUR’S PETER Mandelson yesterday hit back at critics of his controversial memoirs, insisting he was comfortable at his portrayal of Labour’s years in office.
The party’s five leadership contenders have attacked the former first secretary over his account of the feuding which dogged the Blair-Brown years, urging him to retire quietly.
But Lord Mandelson told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show he had not written the book, titled The Third Man, for Westminster insiders, and said he would be “sitting here a lot less comfortably than I am” if he had not given an honest account.
Many of those “sounding off” about the book had not actually read it, he said, including “one or two” of the leadership contenders.
Lord Mandelson, who led Labour’s delegation in unsuccessful coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats after the election, also revealed he thought the chances of a deal were “significantly less than 50 per cent”.
And he told the programme he wished he had been involved in post-war planning in Iraq, saying a “huge price” had been paid for failing to put in place a proper strategy.
Labour’s leadership contenders lined up to attack Lord Mandelson over the memoir, with David Miliband calling it “destructive”, Ed Miliband saying it had “offended just about everyone”, and Andy Burnham saying it was time for the peer to “leave the stage”.
Ed Balls said the book was “divisive”, while Diane Abbott described it as “damaging”.
Lord Mandelson countered, however: “I know for some people inside the Westminster village it will have come, dropped like a sort of rather controversial explosive bombshell.
“But you know I didn’t write this book for people inside the beltway – I wrote it for the general voting public.” – (PA)