Peter Mandelson confirmed as new ambassador to US – UK politics live

Downing Street confirms appointment, with Keir Starmer praising his unrivalled experience'

Peter Mandelson once described Donald Trump as little short of a white nationalist and racist", the Telegraph reports. In her story, Amy Gibbons says Mandelson made the comments in an interview with the Italian journalist Alain Elkann in July 2019.

The Trump presidency clearly upset Mandelson greatly because Elkann opened the interview by asking the former cabinet minister how he was, and Mandelson replied:

I wake up today and discover that not only am I seeing my country, which I love, being forced out of its own European neighbourhood, but is crossing the Atlantic to make common cause with an American president who is little short of a white nationalist and racist.

So, you can imagine, I am not very happy. This disturbs me greatly, because it's completely different from all my upbringing, whether my family or in politics, what I believe in, and the identity I see for my own country.

What Donald Trump represents and believes is anathema to mainstream British opinion, and the idea that as a result of Brexit we have to kowtow to an American president who holds those views will outrage people in Britain.

Even those who have a sneaking admiration for Donald Trump, because of the strength of his personality, nonetheless regard him as reckless and a danger to the world.

It's very promising to see councils implementing new policies to protect their residents from some of the impacts of consumerism, advertising, greenwashing and injustice. But that's not enough. National planning laws need to change - they haven't kept pace and it is clear that local authorities and communities need more power to object to harmful ads.

We need updated planning regulations that properly control billboards, with local councils able to refuse on a range of grounds such as climate, nature, public health, light pollution, and the impact on local businesses.