Starmer sacks Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins over Mandelson vetting | Politics | News

The Foreign Office’s most senior official will step down after it was revealed that the department overrode the vetting process for Lord Peter Mandelson to become Britain’s ambassador to the US.

Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have lost confidence in Foreign Office permanent undersecretary Sir Olly Robbins. Security officials initially denied peer leave, but State Department officials took the rare step of overriding the recommendation.

The government said the Prime Minister was unaware until earlier this week that the former Labor leader had been granted an enhanced review against the recommendation of the UK Security Review.

He instructed officials to establish the facts of why the review was granted, and the State Department had previously said it was “working urgently” to comply.