Deripaska feud sealed Osborne’s fate

George Osborne's political torment is being prolonged because he unwittingly brought the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska into the public eye at the worst possible time for the oligarch.

Deripaska has lost more than $10bn over the last few weeks as the ongoing economic turmoil has hit the prices of raw materials, such as the aluminium, with which he has made his fortune.

The details of Deripaska's feud with a former business partner, Mikhail Chernoi, are also coming out. Chernoi is suing Deripaska for £2bn, or 20 per cent of his stake in Rusal, the company which controls Russia's aluminium industry.

With these problems on the horizon, the last thing Deripaska needed was further scrutiny over the Mandelson/Osborne affair. It is believed this is why Nat Rothschild sprung to his friend's defence in writing to the Times newspaper on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Guardian revealed today that the Business Secretary Peter Mandelson had met with Deripaska far earlier than he had previously admitted.