Disgraced former US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson described the shambolic process for securing a ministerial-style red despatch box coveted by Donald Trump as like something from the political satire The Thick of It.
He said the “saga goes on” in an email to the Prime Minister’s then chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, following protracted exchanges between high-ranking officials over the bespoke gift for last year’s UK state visit by the US president.
