The prime minister and his former top Foreign Office civil servant have given conflicting accounts of the Peter Mandelson vetting affair, with Sir Keir Starmer defending his decision to sack Olly Robbins.
Mr Robbins told the foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday that it was correct not to inform the prime minister that Lord Mandelson had failed security vetting, a position Sir Keir rejects.
The testimony completes much of the picture of why Lord Mandelson was granted security clearance against the advice of vetting officials, with the two men disagreeing on several key points.
—
