THE CURIOUS RETURN OF PETER MANDELSON

Peter Mandelson was brought into Brown's cabinet well before the MPs expenses story broke.

He was appointed Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform on 3 October 2008. There were two events in the world and the UK just before then; the Russia-Georgia war and the decision to bail out the banks.

So why was Mandelson drafted into the cabinet, and why did Mandelson accept?

One minute Mandelson was EU Trade Commissioner, the next he was UK Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (oh and not forgetting his life peerage).

So why did Mandelson resign?

From http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1459

The member of the Commission responsible for trade, Peter Mandelson, has today submitted his resignation to the Commission President, José Manuel Barroso. Mr Mandelson resigns to accept the invitation by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to join the government.

So no specific reason given there.

Who succeeded Mandelson?

From the same press release,

Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, PC, an economist by training, was until now a Labour member of the UK House of Lords, Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council.

She was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education and Skills, Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, where her responsibilities included the trade implications of legal professions.

On 28 June 2007, she was promoted to the Cabinet as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council. In 2008, she was responsible for the successful passage of the Lisbon Treaty in the House of Lords.

So Mandelson's replacement Ashton got the Treaty of Lisbon through the House of Lords.

Looking back now, Mandelson's curious return went under my radar at the time, and it is only now after he's saved Brown's bacon and kept Brown in Number 10 that something about his return indicates they knew long before everyone else that Mandelson would be required in the Cabinet.

So my question is, did Brown and Mandelson both foresee the shit hitting the fan at least 6 months in advance? If so, what did he know and how did they know it?