Watch live: Olly Robbins gives evidence after being sacked by Starmer over Mandelson vetting scandal

Watch live former senior civil servant Sir Olly Robbins answer MPs’ questions about Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador on Tuesday (April 21).

Sir Olly was sacked as head of the Foreign Office last week; The prime minister accused him of deliberately keeping him in the dark after Lord Mandelson failed a vetting check.

Sir Keir told the House of Commons on Monday he would not have appointed Lord Mandelson if he had known his colleague had failed checks and insisted there was no pressure from No 10 to make the high-profile appointment.

Sir Olly will give MPs his version of events when he appears before the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Times reports He said he had not seen the official recommendation from the UK Security Review body not to allow Mandelson and was expected to announce that there was pressure to appoint him. A Whitehall source also told the paper Sir Olly “will not hold back” to defend his actions.

Also on Tuesday, the Prime Minister will face further scrutiny during an urgent debate on the scandal in the House of Commons after a request submitted by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch was approved.