Peter Mandelson versus Norman Baker

From the Daily Mirror:

Lord Mandelson yesterday was at the centre of a secrecy row after refusing to reveal his business interests.

The Business Secretary has placed all his shareholdings in a blind trust – meaning they cannot be seen by the public…

Lib Dem MP Norman Baker said: “He must know what has been put in and we ought to know too or it subverts the announcement.” No10 said: “The point is Lord Mandelson doesn’t even know, therefore it doesn’t affect his decisions.”

The Downing Street ‘rebuttal’ strikes me as particularly weak, because if you’ve put a whole load of investments in a blind trust you (a) know what went in, and (b) know that it’s very likely that most of the trust’s current holdings are the same as (a). Far from not knowing, you’ve actually got a pretty good idea.