Mandelson driven around Alps in classic Ferrari of Rothschild heir at the centre of £500m dinner with an oligarch

After the unrewarding task of trying to keep Labour in power, Lord Mandelson is no doubt relieved to be back in the old routine – courting the rich and famous.



The former Business Secretary is pictured in the passenger seat of a black open-top Ferrari Daytona Spider, worth at least £250,000. At the wheel is his friend, 38-year-old banking heir Nat Rothschild, who was offering hospitality to the Labour peer at one of his chalets in Klosters, in the Swiss Alps.



The picture is proof, if it were needed, that Lord Mandelson has a taste for the kind of high life that would otherwise be beyond his purse.



Rich friends, fast cars: Lord Mandelson enjoys a spin in the passenger seat of friend Nat Rothschild's Ferrari Daytona Spider in Klosters, Switzerland

Of course, now he has departed Westminster following the general election defeat, the chance of making his own fortune beckons again.



Yesterday there were reports that he could be the next chief executive of the troubled petroleum giant BP. Anji Hunter, Tony Blair's former gatekeeper, has previously served as the company's communications chief.



Even if the prospects of the peer taking on such a time-consuming job were being played down last night, his unrivalled contacts in the international business world would come in useful.



Pleading innocent: Lord Mandelson says he was not aware of the purpose of a dinner between him, Mr Rothschild and a Russian oligarch - which led to the loss of British manufacturing jobs

During his Klosters sojourn, Lord Mandelson's BlackBerry mobile phone was constantly in use as he kept abreast with his contacts in the worlds of business and politics.



Repeatedly the 56-year-old could be seen walking in dandelion-infested parkland near his host's home with papers and a jotting pad. Old habits, like expensive tastes, die hard.



Lord Mandelson has offered a remarkable defence to Daily Mail revelations about a deal which netted a Russian oligarch friend hundreds of millions of pounds, but cost British manufacturing jobs.



Alpine getaway: Lord Mandelson clearly quickly acclimatises to the expensive lifestyle of his rich friends

At the weekend, the Mail told how the then EU Trade Commissioner was flown in Mr Rothschild's private jet on an 'unplanned' and unofficial trip to Moscow.



There the pair attended a small, private dinner held by their mutual friend, the controversial Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is barred from entering the U.S.

Deripaska had arranged the meal in January 2005 to seal negotiations for the £250million sale of two aluminium plants to the American metals giant Alcoa. A similar sum was to be invested in the sites.



Sources told the Mail that the Americans 'had concerns' over the level of tariffs that would be imposed on the aluminium the plants exported into the EU.



Lord Mandelson was in a position to allay those fears. Over the next three and a half years he was in charge of EU trade and these tariffs were slashed.



Alcoa closed its Welsh production plant shortly after the deal, with the loss of hundreds of jobs. Industry analysts also blamed the deal for undercutting other British and European plants which also closed.



An Alcoa agent, who is being investigated by U.S. authorities for alleged corruption in the Middle East, donated thousands of pounds to a think-tank Lord Mandelson headed.



But yesterday Lord Mandelson claimed he had no idea of the purpose of the dinner, until the Mail story appeared. He said he was simply 'waiting for another appointment' when he sat at table with Mr Deripaska, Mr Rothschild and the Americans.



In a letter to the Mail, Lord Mandelson said 'nothing could be further from the truth' than that he had acted in an 'inappropriate manner'.



From Saturday's Daily Mail

He added: 'In respect of the dinner with Rusal and Alcoa executives, I only attended the engagement briefly as I was waiting for another appointment.



'I had no knowledge of or any involvement in a transaction between both companies. Given that the dinner was being held, as I understand it now, to mark the completion of negotiations that had already taken place I fail to understand how I could have influenced the deal.



'With regards to the decision by the EU to reduce tariffs, the Director-General for Trade in the European Commission, David O'Sullivan, confirmed… that I made no personal intervention to support the commercial interests of Mr Deripaska.'



In the past, Lord Mandelson has been opaque about how long he has known Mr Deripaska.



He even suggested through a spokesman that they had first met no earlier than 2006. Two years ago Lord Mandelson's holiday at the Rothschild family villa on the island of Corfu ended in ugly headlines, followed by controversy and claim and counter claim.

During the summer of 2008 Lord Mandelson and Mr Deripaska met and dined together after the latter's super yacht was moored off the Mediterranean isle. At the same party, hosted by Nat Rothschild, it emerged that another guest was George Osborne – now the Chancellor of the Exchequer.



Later both men were accused of briefing against each other over what had been said during the private party.



Undeterred, Lord Mandelson again used the Corfu base in the summer of 2009 when he effectively acted as Prime Minister while Gordon Brown took a break.



