Sir Olly Robbins, the former top civil servant at the Foreign Office, is set to face questions from MPs on Tuesday over the decision to grant security clearance to Peter Mandelson for the role of UK ambassador to the US. Robbins was sacked last week after it emerged that he overruled advice from UK Security Vetting to approve Mandelson's appointment.
The Foreign Affairs Committee will grill Robbins on why the clearance was granted despite concerns raised during the vetting process. The move comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces scrutiny over whether he misled MPs and Parliament when he stated that the rules had been followed. Starmer has insisted he was not informed that Mandelson was initially denied clearance and has ordered an urgent probe into the matter.
Former Whitehall mandarin Lord Simon McDonald criticised Robbins' sacking, telling the BBC that he was "thrown under the bus." McDonald, a former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, said: "This story broke on Thursday morning in a piece in The Guardian – within the news cycle Olly Robbins had been required to resign. This shows to me that Number 10 wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly." He also challenged the use of the word "failed" to describe the vetting result, noting that such processes are often "murkier" and involve incomplete information requiring mitigations.
Starmer has faced intense pressure since naming Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to Washington last year. Mandelson, a controversial Labour figure who served under Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, was tasked with managing relations with US President Donald Trump. However, he was sacked just seven months later after emails revealed the extent of his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
