Climate change campaigners stage protest at Mandelson's home

Activists gather outside business secretary's London home in 'act of solidarity' for 625 workers set to lose their jobs at the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Monday 10 August 2009 12.09 BST
Protesters against the closure of a wind turbine factory chained themselves to Lord Mandelson's home today as the business secretary jetted back from Corfu to take control of the day-to-day business of government.
Members of the Climate Rush campaign group gathered outside Mandelson's two-storey property in Regent's Park, north London, in an "act of solidarity" with 625 workers who are set to lose their jobs at the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight.
Ellie Robson, 21, a history undergraduate at Cambridge University, said she wanted to expose the government's hypocrisy over climate change as she chained herself to railings outside the business secretary's house.
She said: "Less than two weeks after announcing the government's plans for a low-carbon Britain, Vestas shut down because there's no demand for wind turbines in this country.
"Mandelson, the man in charge of the nation's purse strings, jets off to Corfu and ignores the Vestas workers' occupation.
"If we're going to have a low-carbon Britain then we need our government to support these workers, rather than forcing the closure of their factory and the loss of their jobs."
No one minister has officially been deputising for Gordon Brown over the weekend after Harriet Harman's foreign holiday overlapped with the business secretary's.
Downing Street was forced to issue a swift insistence that the PM remained "in charge" amid speculation that Mandelson would be running the show via mobile phone from the Greek island.
But a spokesman for Mandelson, who was flying back from the Greek island today, insisted it had been pre-agreed that he would be stand-in from his return today until 16 August, when he is expected to hand over to the chancellor, Alistair Darling.
The occupation of the Danish-owned Vestas factory ended last week when workers left the building after an 18-day protest.
One of the workers jumped 20 feet from a balcony before being led away by security guards, waving and smiling at the climate change activists and trade unionists who have been outside giving support during the protest.
The factory's owner, Vestas Wind Systems, had obtained a court order after six workers barricaded themselves into the plant, on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Newport, for more than two weeks in a bid to delay its closure and the loss of 625 jobs.
Mandelson was pictured at the weekend enjoying the hospitality of Nathaniel Rothschild, but appeared to have avoided the political furore sparked by his Corfu break last year.
In an interview published today by the Guardian, Lord Mandelson described himself more of a "kindly pussycat" than a "big beast" of politics.
"I don't really see myself as a big beast. More as a kindly pussycat. Yes, a kindly pussycat. I'm a kindly pussycat, with strong views about what we need to do," he said.
"I think 10 years ago, and also 15 years ago, I was a very hard-nosed, uncompromising figure who was manning the barricades of change in the Labour party, and prepared to take down anything or anyone who stood in the way," he said.
"I don't feel in that mode now. And secondly, I've learned from experience that you can defeat people without killing them."
Brown is expected to swap his constituency in Scotland for the Lake District this week as he opts for a so-called "staycation" – keeping up a record of always holidaying in the UK as prime minister.
Downing Street confirmed that Mandelson would be resuming work in London later today and would be dividing his time between his offices in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Cabinet Office.