Sacked civil servant boss Sir Olly Robbins launches legal challenge after being fired over Mandelson scandal
The former Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) boss was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer over his handling of Peter Mandelson vetting scandal
Former top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins has requested a judicial review regarding his dismissal from the Foreign Office.
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The former Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) boss was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer over his handling of Peter Mandelson vetting earlier this year - a claim he continues to deny.
The FDA Union, representing Sir Olly, said Sir Keir Starmer should “admit that sacking Olly was a mistake, based on a grievous misunderstanding of how the National Security Vetting (NSV) system worked and a rash response to a media story”.
Following the request for Judicial Review of his dismissal, Olly said: “I bring this action reluctantly. It would have been unnecessary if the Prime Minister had simply apologised for his mistake and made amends for the distress and cost it has caused me and my family."
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"Instead, I now have to ask the Courts to determine that the Prime Minister’s decisions were unlawful, unreasonable and to quash them.”
His submission makes the case that Sir Keir has no statutory authority to dismiss him as the head of the diplomatic service, and that there was “no fair procedure” and “no process at all” in the dismissal.
Sir Olly Robbins, 51, most recently served as permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office from 2025 until his dismissal.
He previously defended his personal actions, stating he was working in an "atmosphere of pressure" in No 10 and that there was a “very strong expectation” that Lord Mandelson should be “in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible”.
He told the MPs that the Mandelson's reason for failing were not due to his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which was the reason he left the post in February.
Sir Keir was said to be “absolutely furious” at the former civil servant over his handling of vetting, describing the failure to inform him as “staggering”.
During a hearing, Sir Olly said there was a “very, very strong expectation” from No 10 that Lord Mandelson “needed to be in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible” which led to him being appointed, despite the peer failing a security test.
In an assessment, Lord McDonald, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office from 2015 to 2020, said that 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, and that feels to me wrong," he said.
Sir Olly appears to have no regrets and said he does not “reflect negatively” on his own judgment or that of his colleagues.