Mandelson takes another swipe at Starbucks boss

Peter Mandelson has made another reference to the criticism of the UK's economic stability by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz which led to a four-letter tirade from the business secretary earlier this week.

Speaking at an economic summit in Cumbria on Friday afternoon, Mandelson criticised those like Schultz who have suggested the UK is unable to recover from the impact of the recession.

"There has been a lot of talking Britain down lately, and not only from coffee shop owners," he said. "But as of today, I'm going to take on the doomsters and only talk Britain up."

Mandelson's comments follow reports on Wednesday that he launched a four-letter attack on Schultz after the Starbucks chairman said the UK was in an "economic spiral" with "very, very poor" consumer confidence.

At a cocktail reception in New York, an angry Mandelson was alleged to have said: "Why should I have this guy running down the country? Who the f**k is he? How the hell are they [Starbucks] doing?"

Starbucks has since apologised.