No 10 put ‘constant pressure’ on international workplace to get Mandelson in publish | EUROtoday

Sir Keir Starmer is below contemporary scrutiny after the highest civil servant sacked over the Mandelson scandal claimed that the Foreign Office was subjected to “constant pressure” to approve Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US whatever the consequence of safety vetting.

In a unprecedented two-hour-long session, Sir Olly Robbins additionally advised MPs that No 10 had tried to repair a diplomatic position for a long-term Labour adviser and ally of Sir Keir, Matthew Doyle, who has since been promoted to the Lords however shortly after was suspended from the occasion due to his hyperlinks to a convicted paedophile.

Sir Olly mentioned that No 10 had taken a “dismissive” method to vetting and needed Lord Mandelson in Washington “as soon as humanly possible”.

In one other astonishing revelation, he mentioned that the Cabinet Office thought there was no must vet the Labour grandee in any respect, as a result of he already held different high-profile roles, together with as a peer.

Sir Olly steered that, even earlier than the vetting was full, the PM ought to have blocked the appointment due to what had already been uncovered by an preliminary “due diligence” train, which discovered that appointing Lord Mandelson would pose a “reputational risk”.

Lord Mandelson was sacked as ambassador to the US final 12 months over his hyperlinks to Jeffrey Epstein and is now going through a police inquiry into claims that he leaked delicate authorities paperwork to the paedophile financier when he was enterprise secretary below Gordon Brown.

Sir Keir hit again at Sir Olly’s proof, telling his cupboard that the senior civil servant had made an “error of judgement”, although he maintained that Sir Olly is a “man of integrity and professionalism”.

No 10 additionally rejected claims that it had been “dismissive” about Lord Mandelson’s vetting, and denied that Sir Keir’s then chief of workers, Morgan McSweeney, had “nagged or cajoled or bullied” officers on the Foreign Office to grant Lord Mandelson safety clearance.

But, in a blow to Downing Street, the international secretary Yvette Cooper mentioned she was “extremely concerned” at Sir Olly’s proof that he had been instructed to not inform her predecessor, David Lammy, concerning the seek for an ambassadorial position for Mr Doyle, now Lord Doyle, who wouldn’t have been an “appropriate” alternative.

And cupboard minister Ed Miliband mentioned that he and Mr Lammy, now the deputy prime minister, had issues about Lord Mandelson’s appointment due to the danger that it might “blow up”.

Earlier, Sir Olly mentioned there had been “constant chasing” concerning the appointment from throughout the PM’s non-public workplace in No 10, which created an “atmosphere of pressure” amongst officers.

Other revelations included:

Last week, the PM sacked Sir Olly, accusing him of failing to reveal that Lord Mandelson had failed safety vetting.

But Sir Olly mentioned he had by no means seen the vetting kind and had as a substitute been briefed by Foreign Office safety workers that “UKSV considered Mandelson a borderline case and that they were leaning towards recommending that clearance be denied”.

He mentioned he was advised that the dangers on this case didn’t relate to Lord Mandelson’s relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Sir Olly insisted that the confidentiality of the vetting course of was “designed to protect UK national security”.

He mentioned he didn’t know why he had been fired, including that, “as a human being, I’m desperately, desperately sad about it”.

He revealed that when he took over within the Foreign Office on 20 January, whereas vetting was nonetheless happening, Lord Mandelson had already acquired approval from King Charles and the US, was already allowed within the constructing, and was being granted entry to “highly classified briefings” on a case-by-case foundation.

In an emergency debate within the Commons, Kemi Badenoch twice referenced The Independent’s entrance web page final September, which first revealed that Lord Mandelson had failed vetting, as she challenged the federal government’s model of occasions.

Ms Badenoch mentioned Sir Olly’s proof confirmed that the prime minister had misled parliament.

“The evidence from Olly Robbins is devastating to Keir Starmer,” she mentioned. “It is clear that No 10 not only made the appointment before vetting was completed, but that Mandelson was already acting as the ambassador before the vetting, even seeing highly classified documents.

“With this, and the ‘constant pressure’ No 10 applied to the appointment and their ‘dismissive attitude’ to vetting Mandelson, it is now absolutely clear that full due process was not followed. Keir Starmer has misled the House.”

Also on Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed the choice to sack Sir Olly, telling an occasion that whether or not Lord Mandelson had handed vetting or not was “crucial information” that the mandarin ought to have advised the prime minister.

She insisted there may be “no Labour leadership contest” when requested about the opportunity of challengers to Sir Keir’s authority.

A leak inquiry can be below means over the story being given to media, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones confirmed.

Meanwhile, Lord Doyle mentioned he had “never sought” any ambassadorial position, including: “I was never aware of anyone speaking to the FCDO about such a role for me.”