Peter Mandelson is passing the buck around as he celebrates the end of the bra wars:

Yesterday, he attempted to apportion blame for the
fiasco that followed, when clothes already bought and mostly paid for
by European retailers before the deal came into effect in mid-July hit
the new limits.

"The member states were pressing
me to negotiate an agreement," he said. "I said there were intrinsic
difficulties in operating restrictions of this kind. Despite these
difficulties member states wanted me to press on and negotiate an
agreement."

That’s the buck passing. Not my fault Guv’, ’onest.

Yesterday’s deal was met with smiles by Mr Mandelson and the Chinese
trade minister, Bo Xilai, who together negotiated the settlement.

That’s the celebration. The obvious point is that if he hadn’t cocked things up in the first place, if he’d simply stuck by the deal agreed a decade ago, none of this would have happened. But of course he’s a politician, has to be seen doing something. It is simply impossible, not encompassed in politician genes, for such to understand that doing nothing, not interfering, is often the correct answer.

Europe’s retailers are calling for compensation to cover the losses and
disruption caused by the log-jam, saying they have been unfairly
punished for decisions made in good faith.

Bloody right too. At a start, demurrage and interest losses. There is also one more example of quite how bad at doing anything these idiots are:

Millions of bras, pullovers and pairs of trousers held up at European
ports should be released into the shops by the end of the month after
the European Union and China struck a deal on textile quotas last night.

The end of the month? Four weeks away? It really takes that long to phone up Jimmy at the Customs House and say "OK, let ’em in"? Do they have any idea when shops put out their winter stocks? (Hint….it’s before winter starts.)

Mandelson really is a complete tit.