Unelected Business Secretary, ‘Lord’ Mandelson was hit by slime rather than sleaze when Leila Deen, a member of environmental group Plane Stupid, threw green custard over him this morning. The move was a ‘last resort’ after the democratic process had failed, she said.
Plane Stupid is campaigning against a third runway at Heathrow.
Peter Mandelson has twice had to resign from government amid allegations of sleaze. And in October 2008 was under scrutiny once again due to his friendship with the Russia oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
Soon after, protester Deen appeared live on BBC News. The BBC then talked with Peter Mandelson live. The reporter put to him some of the issues raised: namely that he was unelected and had ignored the opposition to a third runaway at Heathrow, including among his cabinet colleagues. Seemingly taken aback for a second, Mandelson then failed to answer and made a joke about the custard and it being an ‘adolescent prank’. A few minutes later, after cleaning up, the master of spin quipped:
‘Whilst I’m prepared to take my fair share of the green revolution on to my shoulders, I’m less keen on having it in my face’. You have to give him some credit for the humour.
Leila Deen then ran over to Sky News:
I don’t agree with stuff being thrown in a person’s face. It’s a nasty thing even when the target is one of the country’s most-loathed politicians. But, still, it’s interesting see how effective Plane Stupid was in ‘hijacking’ the news agenda this morning.
The Telegraph has straight footage of the attack here:
Also a gallery of other famous political stunts. Britain has a long history of protestors chucking ink, paint and especially eggs, a theme that CNN picks up on too.