Lord Simon McDonald, the former head of the Foreign Office, has accused No 10 of throwing Sir Olly Robbins “under a bus” in the fallout over Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador despite failing security vetting. Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lord McDonald described Robbins as a “scalp” that the government needed after the Guardian revealed the vetting failure.
Lord McDonald said the case marked “the biggest crisis in the diplomatic service” since he joined the Foreign Office in 1982. He criticised the process, stating: “Number 10 wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly. I cannot see that there was any process, any fairness, any giving him the chance to set out his case.”
Sir Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, was asked to resign on Thursday, hours after the Guardian story broke. Lord McDonald said this showed a lack of due process and fairness.
The political fallout has intensified, with Scottish First Minister John Swinney becoming the fifth major party leader to call for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down. Swinney joined Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage, Ed Davey and Zach Polanski in lambasting Starmer’s “incompetence” over the matter.
Speaking in Dundee, Swinney said he had “no reason to doubt” Starmer’s account of his understanding of the vetting process, but still described the prime minister’s handling as “staggering” and “startling”.
