Sir Olly Robbins is to leave his post as permanent secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office following revelations about the vetting process for Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.
Robbins, who has only held the top job at King Charles Street since January last year, is said to have “lost the confidence” of prime minister Keir Starmer and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper.
His departure follows yesterday’s revelation by the Guardian that Mandelson had failed so-called “developed vetting” conducted by UK Security Vetting in January last year as part of his appointment for the Washington post, only for that advice to be overruled by FCDO officials. The decision to overrule the vetting came just weeks after Mandelson was announced as Starmer’s choice for the ambassador job.
Mandelson was sacked from his ambassador job in September last year when new details about his relationship with the paedophile and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein emerged.
Downing Street yesterday insisted Starmer had been unaware that FCDO officials had overridden UKSV’s recommendation on Mandelson until earlier this week.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said it was not credible that the PM had not known about UKSV’s original decision.
“It is completely preposterous that the prime minister, the former chief prosecutor of this country, did not ask basic questions, did not ask to look at the security vetting himself,” she said. “I'm afraid that it is simply not possible.”
Badenoch, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have all called on Starmer to resign.
Also speaking on the Today programme this morning, chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones said that until yesterday he had been unaware FCDO officials – and a “small number” of other organisations – had the ability to ignore a UKSV vetting reccomendation when appointing people to sensitive roles.
Jones said he had last night “suspended the right” for the FCDO and other organisations to be able to use that exemption.
Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry said FCDO officials appeared to have misled her panel in evidence on Mandelson’s appointment given last year.
She said that assurances that Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to Washington had followed a security vetting process – both in writing and in person on the part of Robbins – had omitted the key information that he had failed UKSV’s developed vetting, only for officials to overrule that recommendation.
“We’re so fed up,” Thornberry said. “We’ve had the people in front of us. We asked them questions and they’ve just been taking the mickey.”
The committee is understood to be seeking a new evidence session with Robbins.