Top Foreign Office civil servant removed after Starmer and Cooper 'lose confidence' over Mandelson vetting
Foreign Office permanent under-secretary Olly Robbins is leaving his role amid the political storm
Top Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins is set to leave his job amid a row over the vetting of Lord Mandelson before he was appointed the Ambassador to the US.
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LBC understands that Mr Robbins has lost the confidence of the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and the Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, over his handling of the vetting process.
Mandelson failed to pass Developed Vetting before his appointment - but was given the job anyway.
Sir Keir and former Foreign Secretary David Lammy have denied knowing of Mandelson's vetting failure at the time of his appointment.
Mandelson was sacked from the role after the Prime Minister said he had not told the truth over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Lammy did not know the Foreign Office had overruled Mandelson’s vetting until Thursday afternoon, LBC understands.
Read More: Peter Mandelson failed security vetting for US ambassador role but Foreign Office overruled decision
Deputy Prime Minister Mr Lammy was the Foreign Secretary when Lord Mandelson was appointed British ambassador to the US.
Mandelson failed security vetting checks, but the Foreign Office overruled this to ensure he could be made US ambassador.
The disgraced peer was initially denied clearance in late January 2025 after a highly confidential background check by security officials, multiple sources say.
A few weeks later, Sir Keir Starmer announced Mandelson as the UK’s chief diplomat in Washington.
Following the revelation, the Foreign Office is “working urgently” to comply with a request by the Prime Minister to establish the facts around how vetting was granted for Mandelson to become ambassador to the US, an FCDO spokesperson said.
Reform UK and the Green Party have called for Starmer to resign, while the SNP have reported him to the ethics advisor.
No.10 has since revealed that Starmer was not aware the Foreign Office had overruled the vetting decision until earlier this week.
Mandelson’s failure to secure vetting approval was revealed by The Guardian, following calls for the government to disclose the details amid intense scrutiny over his appointment.
So far, Downing Street has released 147 pages of documents in an attempt to shed light on the case.
Further documents are set to be released, but senior government officials are said to be deciding whether to withhold documents about Mandelson failing the vetting process from Parliament.
The decision, which rests with the Cabinet Office, has not yet been taken.
Withholding documents from the Intelligence and Security Committee could amount to a breach of a parliamentary motion to release “all papers relating to Mandelson’s appointment”.
The revelation about Mandelson not being granted clearance by UK Security Vetting (UKSV) will raise further questions about why the Prime Minister appointed him.
UKSV is a division of the Cabinet Office that scrutinises the background of prospective civil servants and conveys its decision as a recommendation to government departments.
Their vetting decisions are almost always enforced by government departments, but they technically have the authority to override the recommendations.
The reason that UKSV recommended that Mandelson should not receive clearance will be subject to intense speculation.
As part of their vetting process, individuals have to fill out a questionnaire and interviews requiring disclosure of highly private information, including about personal finances, business connections and sexual history.
It is understood that outright denial, as seen in the Mandelson case, is rare.
But what is more exceptional is for the decision to be overruled by a government department. A decision which is said to have taken place over 48 hours in late January 2025.