Former Foreign Office official Sir Olly Robbins set out the pressure from No 10 to get Lord Mandelson into the Washington ambassador’s post.
The former top official at the Foreign Office said there was a “dismissive approach” to Peter Mandelson’s security vetting from Sir Keir Starmer’s No 10.
Sir Olly Robbins, who was sacked by the Prime Minister last week over the failure to disclose Lord Mandelson’s failed security checks – but he was granted developed vetting (DV) clearance anyway, said there was pressure from Downing Street to clear the appointment.
He told MPs that 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”.
The former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office said that when he took on that role in January 2025, the DV process was already under way.
“Due diligence (which assesses reputational suitability and checks if a candidate is fit to serve) had been completed by the Cabinet Office,” he said.
“Mandelson was being granted access to highly-classified briefing on a case-by-case basis.”
He said this “resulted in a dismissive approach to DV” from Number 10.
“Nonetheless, despite this atmosphere of pressure, the department completed DV to the normal high standard,” he said.
