When did Mandelson change his mind about Brown?

I don’t think anyone disputes that Mandelson used to not have a very high opinion of Brown’s premiership. As Danny blogged on Sunday, the Corfu story was in circulation before Mandelson’s shock return but not considered particularly surprising by anybody. But if Kevin Maguire is to be believed, Mandelson was still sticking the knife into Brown only ten days before returning to the Cabinet:

“I heard an intriguing tale during Labour’s conference in Manchester.

After Brown’s acclaimed speech a TV crew asked Mandy for a comment. The then Euro Commissioner continued walking straight ahead, lips sealed.

About an hour later Mandy bumped into the same crew. “Did you get what you want?” he asked.

The sneer was clear – Mandy didn’t think much of Brown’s speech.”

Treason is a matter of dates and all that but one wonders how recently Mandelson stopped trashing Brown. Anyway, Mandelson has already proved a unifying force in British politics in at least one respect–who would have thought that Kevin Maguire and George Osborne would find themselves pursuing the same objective?