The Huffington Post
Olly Robbins gives evidence to the committee. Pressure on Keir Starmer over the Lord Mandelson scandal is set to intensify as a result of the “utterly devastating” testimony of the senior civil servant he sacked. Olly Robbins’ spent nearly two-and-a-half answering questions from MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee. His appearance came a day after the prime minister told the Commons it “beggars belief” he was not told that Mandelson had not been cleared by UK Security Vetting before being appointed the UK’s ambassador to Washington. As the top civil servant in the Foreign Office at the time, it was Robbins who decided that the then Labour peer should be approved for “developed vetting” – the highest level of security clearance – thereby letting him take up the post. Starmer only found out about this last Tuesday, and two days later dismissed Robbins from his job. Allies of the former civil servant had said in advance of his committee appearance that he would come out swinging – and he did not disappoint. Here are the five bombshell revelations that came out of his evidence session. 1) The Foreign Office Was Pressured By No.10 To Clear Mandelson Robbins made it abundantly clear to the committee that the Foreign Office was left in no doubt that No.10 wanted Mandelson to be our man in Washington. He said: “There was an atmosphere of constant chasing. ‘Has this been delivered yet?’ Never any interest in whether, only an interest in when.” 2) No.10 Did Not Care If Mandelson Was Given Security Clearance Robbins was appointed permanent secretary in the Foreign Office in January last year, after Downing Street had announced that Mandelson would become the new ambassador to Washington. He told the committee that there was “a generally dismissive attitude to his vetting clearance” from No.10. “The focus was on getting Mandelson to Washington quickly,” Robbins said. This appears to contradict Starmer’s claim that he would not have gone through with Mandelson’s appointment had he known that it had been recommended that he not be given developed vetting (DV) clearance. 3) Mandelson Had Access To Top Secret Documents Even Before Being Appointed In a letter to the committee, Robbins revealed the power Mandelson was given even before he took up his post. He said: “Mandelson had access to the [Foreign Office] building and basic IT access. Mandelson was being granted access to highly classified briefing on a case-by-case basis.” 4) Starmer Wanted His Top Spin Doctor To Be Given A Job Behind David Lammy’s Back Perhaps the most stunning revelation of the entire session came when Robbins said Starmer wanted Matthew Doyle, the No.10 director of communications, to be given a senior diplomatic job – but that foreign secretary David Lammy was not to be told. Robbins said he “felt quite uncomfortable” about the suggestion and “kept giving advice that I thought this would be very hard for the office and was hard for me personally to defend”. He added: “I was under strict instruction not to discuss that with the then foreign secretary, which was uncomfortable.” Doyle was instead given a peerage by the PM, but was suspended from the Labour Party shortly afterwards over his links to a convicted paedophile. 5) His Sacking By Starmer Has Taken A Huge Toll On Robbins An emotional Robbins, a civil servant for 25 years, explained to the committee how his abrupt sacking by the PM has affected. “I don’t fully understand the reasons that I’m in the position I am in, but that is for a separate process for me to try to get to the bottom of,” he said. “As a human being, I’m desperately, desperately sad about it. “I loved that job, I loved that institution, I was proud to serve this government and any government that might follow it. I hope I was doing it to the best of my ability, I was certainly doing it as hard as I possibly could. I had wonderful colleagues who I miss deeply.” A senior Labour MP told HuffPost UK that Robbins’ evidence to the committee was “utterly devastating” for the prime minister. Suggesting the PM’s job is now on the line, he added: “The Andy Burnham train has left the station and everyone will be clambering to get on it.” Subscribe to Commons People , the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster. Related... Donald Trump Takes Fresh Swipe At Keir Starmer As He Weighs In On Mandelson Scandal Labour MPs 'Vote With Their Feet' As Support For Starmer Drains Away Amid Mandelson Fallout 5 Excruciating Moments As MPs Grill Starmer Over Peter Mandelson
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