Joined at the hip?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Joined at the hip?

- Joined At The Hip: Japan’s Vulnerability Affects U.S., Los Angeles Times, April 10, 1990.

2. Peter Mandelson yesterday buried the threat of a Blairite coup against Gordon Brown, declaring he was ‘joined at the hip’ to the Prime Minister, who would lead Labour into the next election.

He spoke as it emerged that Brown had been snubbed by Jon Cruddas, the left-wing standard bearer and former deputy leadership challenger, who yesterday rejected several offers of a government job. His decision to remain on the back benches has scuppered plans for a ‘unity government’ representing all strands of party thinking.

However, Mandelson’s intervention in effect confirms that the leadership ambitions of David Miliband are dead in the water, with Tony Blair’s inner circle rallying around the Prime Minister at a time of economic and political crisis. The new Business Secretary took the job only after gaining Blair’s approval for the move.

In an interview with The Observer, Mandelson insisted that he and Brown had ‘never entirely lost our friendship’ and said he had been at times ‘a bit combative, probably a bit prickly’, but suggested the past should be left behind.

Mandelson said he and the Prime Minister had ‘learnt lessons’ over their years of feuding. Warning that the government must get better at forging and selling new policies, he added: ‘I think all the cabinet share this view. And I think they also know what's been missing, and what has to be put in place.’…