Updated on 18 March 2010 Political heavyweights Ken Clarke and Lord Mandelson have traded political blows and personal barbs during a fiery business debate. Speaking at a British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) event in London, the Business Secretary and his Tory shadow made the case as to why their parties should be trusted with the post-election economy. Mr Clarke said there was a need for a "fresh change" and called on voters not to overlook "13 years of complete catastrophe". Lord Mandelson countered by attacking the Conservative Party's plans to cut public spending, stating that his political rival's figures "simply do not add up". Over the course of the debate, Mr Clarke and Lord Mandelson locked horns on a number of issues in language which ranged from hard economic data to personal insults. Lord Mandelson was accused of talking "piffle" by his shadow at one point when he suggested that the Labour Party was going beyond ideology in a bid to rebuild the economy. Later, the Business Secretary accused Mr Clarke of "living and trading on his past" as the debate got more heated. The Tory frontbencher retorted: "Unlike you, Peter, I have a past I can trade on." Both men were warned by mediator Jon Sopel, of the BBC, as the debate degenerated into a series of "Yes we are" and "No, you are not" on the issue of whether Labour was freezing public sector wages. It was beginning to become a "Punch and Judy show", the chairman said.Mandelson and Clarke lock horns
Thursday, 18 March 2010
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