In all the furore about Peter Mandelson, there is a glaring omission. Oh yes, I know THAT picture in the white Y-fronts is unforgivable (as is the handing over of confidential information to hostile operators in the middle of the banking crisis). But in all the fuss, there is a huge elephant in the room that nobody is talking about. The truth is, Peter Mandelson never needed to be appointed Ambassador to Washington in the first place. We already had a brilliant midlife woman doing the job. Her name was Dame Karen Pierce, and before Mandelson ever got to the...