BUSINESS Secretary Lord Mandelson was splattered with green slime by a protesting campaigner as he arrived at the launch of a low-carbon summit in London.

Graham Dines

BUSINESS Secretary Lord Mandelson was splattered with green slime by a protesting campaigner as he arrived at the launch of a low-carbon summit in London.

His assailant was Leila Deen is a member of the Plane Stupid group campaigning against a third runway at Heathrow. She told the BBC she had informed Lord Mandelson that the substance involved was custard before throwing it.

She said Lord Mandelson was an unelected politician and he was siding with the "interests of business" rather than the "interests of the people and the planet" in backing the new runway.

She justified the "direct action" as the best way of bringing about change, claiming she and others were excluded from the democratic process.

"When democracy is failing you have to resort to any means necessary as long as it is peaceful and does not harm other human beings," she said.

She added: "Peter Mandelson is the same person who effectively bullied Ed Miliband and other members of the cabinet to accept a third runway that nobody wants, a third runway that no one was consulted on and no one is able to say no to.

"It's not right that someone like Peter Mandelson can stand up and talk about being green."

The incident will concern security chiefs because as a former Northern Ireland Secretary, Lord Mandelson is vulnerable to action from paramilitary forces in the province.