Sir Mark Sedwill, a former cabinet secretary, has called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to retract his accusations against Sir Olly Robbins and reinstate him. Sedwill’s comments follow Robbins’ appearance before the foreign affairs select committee, where he defended his decision to grant Peter Mandelson developed vetting clearance despite opposition from the official vetting agency.
Robbins, a former top civil servant at the Foreign Office, told MPs that Mandelson’s case was “borderline” and that the UK Security Vetting (UKSV) assessment was only leaning towards denial. However, documents released by the Cabinet Office show that UKSV’s recommendation was a clear “clearance denied” in a red traffic-light system. Downing Street and the Cabinet Office have confirmed that the vetting officer chose the third option, and Starmer stated at the dispatch box that the agency recommended denial “with red flags”.
Robbins admitted he did not see the vetting file, which he described as “hermetically sealed”, and relied entirely on an oral briefing from Foreign Office security director Ian Collard. He said Collard described the case as “borderline” and indicated that UKSV suggested the department might grant clearance with mitigations. Robbins could not confirm whether a detailed record of that conversation existed.
The former official argued that the process had been misunderstood, noting that while UKSV makes recommendations, the Foreign Office itself grants clearance. This distinction allowed him to avoid the phrase “failed” vetting. Sedwill and other former mandarins praised Robbins’ evidence, with Sir Simon McDonald saying Starmer would not have sacked him had he heard the testimony first.
The controversy has raised questions about the robustness of the vetting system. Critics have noted the gap between UKSV’s firm denial recommendation and the ultimate decision to grant Mandelson clearance, a decision taken by Robbins without direct sight of the vetting file.
