MPs deadlocked over Mandelson

PETER MANDELSON'S hopes of a return to frontline politics have been clouded by deadlock among MPs investigating the former minister's pounds 373,000 home loan from Geoffrey Robinson, the former paymaster general.

Eight meetings of the Standards and Privileges Committee have brought little progress. A group of Labour MPs on the committee is believed to be blocking criticism of Mr Mandelson. They are understood to have objected to a suggestion that his behaviour fell below the standard expected of an MP because he did not immediately inform his building society of the loan. There is also disagreement over whether the former minister, who resigned in December, should receive a mild rebuke or heavier criticism.

The stalemate has led to frustration among some MPs, who say self-regulation can work only if members do not divide along political lines in sensitive cases. The Conservative John Redwood, who shadowed Mr Mandelson at the Department of Trade and Industry and who complained about the loan, said: "It is most important for all members to come to an independent judgement free of favour to their own side."

A spokesman for the Britannia Building Society said yesterday that Mr Mandelson's mortgage was repaid in full last week, when his house in Notting Hill, west London, was sold. There was speculation this week that Mr Mandelson might return to a key role, after Labour's poor results in the European elections.

Ken Livingstone,

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