Keir Starmer has accused Olly Robbins of deliberately and repeatedly obstructing the truth about the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, as the sacked Foreign Office permanent secretary prepares to face MPs on Tuesday.
In a sombre statement to Parliament, the Prime Minister admitted his decision to appoint Mandelson as ambassador to Washington was a fundamental mistake, but insisted the Foreign Office had withheld vetting advice from Downing Street. He described the failure to brief him as “staggering” and “incredible”.
The vetting information has now been handed to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), which is expected to assess it before returning it to the government for public release within days. The material reportedly includes a summary of Mandelson’s personal life, financial and business dealings, along with the recommendation that he failed security vetting.
The ISC is also seeking an audit trail of who knew what and when about the vetting decision, as well as minutes of any meetings held by Robbins. Lord Beamish, the ISC chair, pressed ministers to release any documents relating to the Foreign Office’s decision-making process, after the Cabinet Office said they did not exist.
It has emerged that Robbins overturned the UK Security Vetting decision to fail Mandelson just 24 hours later, and did not inform his superior, Chris Wormald, or any No 10 official. Simon Case, Wormald’s predecessor, had advised Starmer to complete Mandelson’s vetting before his appointment, but was ignored. Starmer has ordered an investigation into security concerns over Mandelson’s tenure amid fears of potential leaks.
Robbins is due to appear before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, with Downing Street braced for further revelations. Starmer maintained he had not misled Parliament, despite acknowledging his previous account of events was wrong.
