Robbins: No. 10 “Put Constant Pressure” on Foreign Office Over Mandelson Vetting

Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes of surviving the Mandelson scandal were dealt a hammer blow today as Sir Olly Robbins, his sacked Foreign Office chief, said he was “pressured” into waving through the appointment. The Mail has more.

In explosive testimony to MPs, Sir Olly Robbins said Downing Street “chased” the posting as US ambassador and was “dismissive” of the need for any security vetting.

The Foreign Affairs Committee heard claims that Sir Keir’s former chief of staff called Sir Olly’s predecessor about the appointment, insisting: “Just f***ing approve it.”

Opening another damaging flank, Sir Olly revealed that No. 10 tried to get Sir Keir’s spin doctor Matthew Doyle a plum posting as a “head of mission” abroad. 

Lord Doyle later left Government, and has since been stripped of the Labour whip over campaigning for a councillor who had been charged with child sex offences. 

Sir Olly’s appearance came after he was squarely blamed by Sir Keir for failing to tell him officials had advised against giving Mandelson the key job.

During a marathon Commons session last night – which saw the Labour benches alarmingly empty behind him – Sir Keir said he had been “deliberately” kept in the dark. 

But Sir Olly – who took on his role after Mandelson was publicly announced, but before he was formally confirmed as US envoy – said there was an “atmosphere of pressure”. 

“I walked into a situation in which there was already a very very strong expectation… that he needed to be in post and in America as soon as possible,” he said. 

Earlier, Ed Miliband heaped woe on the premier by revealing he had warned against making Mandelson US ambassador.

The Net Zero Secretary said he told David Lammy he thought the appointment could “blow up” – and the then-foreign secretary shared his concerns. 

The furore has renewed doubts about whether Sir Keir can cling on in No. 10, after he was almost ousted in a coup in February. It is barely a fortnight until local elections where Labour is facing a battering at the hands of Reform.

Yesterday Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander raised eyebrows by saying it was “not certain” the PM would lead Labour into the next election.

The civil servant said he had received a letter terminating his employment yesterday. He is now thought to be consulting lawyers, which might result in a huge payoff. 

Sir Olly said he had been verbally briefed on the vetting process by the Foreign Office’s security chief in January last year, and had been told the team were “leaning” towards rejecting Mandelson.

However, he argued officials agreed there were ways of managing the risks and he had been empowered to go ahead.

“I was briefed that UKSV considered Mandelson a borderline case and that they were leaning towards recommending that clearance be denied, but that the Foreign Office’s security department assessed that the risks identified as of highest concern by UKSV could be managed and/or mitigated,” Sir Olly said.

“I was also told that the risks did not relate to Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

“And I was told that UKSV acknowledged, I don’t know in what way, but acknowledged that the Foreign Office might wish to grant clearance with appropriate risk management.”

By the time Sir Olly became head of the Foreign Office, he said the Cabinet Office had carried out due diligence, and the King had already approved the posting.

He said the US had also given “agreement” and dropping Mandelson at that stage would have “caused quite an issue”.

“If the nomination had changed after that point the incoming administration may well have commented on it publicly and it would have caused quite an issue,” he said. 

In a letter to the committee, Sir Olly said: “Due diligence [which assesses reputational suitability and checks if a candidate is fit to serve] had been completed by the Cabinet Office.”

“Mandelson was being granted access to highly-classified briefing on a case-by-case basis.”

He said this “resulted in a dismissive approach” to whether Developed Vetting (DV) – the most intensive process of clearance – was needed. 

“Nonetheless, despite this atmosphere of pressure, the department completed DV to the normal high standard,” he added.

Sir Olly pointed out that Sir Keir had not followed the advice of the Cabinet Secretary [Simon Case], who recommended in November 2024 that security clearance be obtained before any political appointee was selected to Washington.  

He added: “After the announcement, I believe the Cabinet Office raised whether DV was actually necessary. 

“I understand the FCDO insisted that DV was a requirement before Mandelson took up his post in Washington.”

Worth reading in full.