Eight weeks to make a red box for Trump. That's Britain right now

You know that feeling when someone sends you a wall of text and you just can't? That's basically where we are with the latest Peter Mandelson files. Two standout moments though, and honestly, they tell you everything about the state of this government.

First up: Pat McFadden's takedown of Labour's backbenchers is already everywhere online. "Every meeting I have is: 'Who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?'" Brutal. The kind of thing that makes you wince because it lands.

But the second thing in these files? That's the real killer. It's only 10 words long, but when you read it, you just... sit there. It perfectly captures where Britain is right now and how far we've got to go to fix it. No drama needed. It's just devastating in how ordinary it is.

So what's the moment? It's buried in emails about Donald Trump's state visit last year. Apparently he wanted a replica ministerial red box as a gift. Simple enough, right? Wrong. The files include this line: "the manufacturer gave a lead time of 8-10 weeks". That's it. That's the whole thing.

Eight to ten weeks to produce one red box. One. A single decorative box that Britain's supposed to be able to knock out without breaking a sweat. And we can't. Not in under two months, anyway.

It's the perfect encapsulation of everything Keir Starmer's been banging on about — growth, efficiency, getting things done. Except we can't even manage a ceremonial box in under two months. What does that say about delivering actual change?

The Mandelson files have been pretty underwhelming overall, if we're honest. Lots of words, not much substance. But these two moments? They're worth reading for.