UK PM Starmer sacks Foreign Office Chief Olly Robbins over Mandelson vetting scandal

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday sacked the country's top civil servant in the Foreign Office over the Mandelson vetting scandal as he himself faces pressure to resign. On Thursday night, it was announced that Sir Olly Robbins, the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary, would step down from his post.

The announcement came after it was maintained that Robbins lost confidence in the British premier, along with the UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. Earlier on Thursday, it was reported that Lord Mandelson had failed the enhanced vetting process for his appointment as US ambassador but was given the post anyway after civil servants dismissed the findings.

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Downing Street eventually admitted to the sequence of events but maintained that Prime Minister Starmer, not any other government minister, knew what had happened. The office instead blamed the Foreign Office officials for the whole ordeal.

The phone call

According to The Telegraph, Robbins was dismissed from his post after a phone conversation with Starmer on Thursday evening. Earlier on Thursday, the British prime minister met with Ms Cooper about the mandarin’s position.

Sources close to the matter told The Telegraph that neither Starmer nor any government ministers, including David Lammy, who was foreign secretary at the time, knew about Lord Mandelson’s failure to secure security clearance until earlier this week. As per the report, the British premier found out about the situation on Tuesday evening when civil servants charged with finding documents about Lord Mandelson’s appointment uncovered the advice.

It is pertinent to note that Olly's departure from the government will be seen as an attempt to insulate the Prime Minister from the political fallout of the Mandelson affair. The controversy about Lord Mandelson’s appointment has become a crisis for No 10, after he was sacked last year for his close relationship with convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Amid the chaos, Starmer has been facing calls to resign from all three of Britain’s main opposition leaders despite Downing Street’s decision to blame Foreign Office officials for ignoring warnings about Lord Mandelson. On Thursday evening, Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, accused Sir Keir of misleading Parliament about the case.

“The Prime Minister appointed Peter Mandelson before the vetting had been completed, but the vetting of Mandelson failed. Starmer then said full due process was followed. That is misleading Parliament," Badenoch said.

“I’m only holding him to the same standards to which he’s held previous prime ministers – that if they mislead Parliament, they should resign. In these dangerous times, Britain cannot afford to have a Prime Minister whom the country doesn’t trust. Starmer has betrayed our national security. He should go," she added. Overall, the whole controversy surrounding the Mandelson case casts a dark cloud over the Starmer administration.