In all 1,500 pages of “Mandelson files” documents published by the government this week, the most important sentence is a casual expression of frustration by a cabinet minister.
Pat McFadden, who was then the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Office, messaged Peter Mandelson on 25 May last year about problems the government faced in bringing welfare spending under control, and the disability benefits budget in particular. It is an incidental disclosure that speaks volumes about where so much has gone wrong for a Labour government that finds itself grinding to a halt with no particular direction in mind.
