Watch live: Starmer braces for top civil servant Cat Little to face MPs over Mandelson vetting row

Watch live as senior civil servant Cat Little appears before the Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday (April 23) and faces further scrutiny over the review process for Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.

Sir Olly Robbins appeared before the committee on Tuesday, where he gave stunning evidence about the role Downing Street played in the appointment of Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

The Prime Minister sacked the former Foreign Office chief last week after it was revealed he did not tell Sir Keir that Lord Mandelson had been given permission to be appointed to the senior diplomatic post, despite vetting officials advising him otherwise.

The senior official confirmed the government’s story but said there was a “condescending approach” to the review of No 10 and an “atmosphere of pressure” to ensure Lord Mandelson’s appointment.

During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch asked Sir Keir if he stood by his previous statements to the House of Commons that due process was followed when appointing.

The Prime Minister responded, adding: “Sir Olly Robbins was asked yesterday if he had shared this decision with me, No 10 or any other minister. He gave a clear answer: no. This invalidates any allegations of fraud made by my detractors.”

It comes as a growing rift in Sir Keir’s cabinet emerges, with ministers turning against the prime minister over his handling of the Lord Mandelson scandal and the atmosphere in the senior team described as “gloomy”.

Many of Sir Keir’s ministers, including Rachel Reeves, Shabana Mahmood and Wes Streeting, reportedly accused the Prime Minister of creating a “them and us” divide between No10 and the civil service.

A senior government source said: Telegram In Downing Street “there is a feeling that it is all over now” and “the wheels are no longer turning”.