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Olly Robbins ‘thrown under bus’ by No 10, says ex-Foreign Office chief – as it happened

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here On Friday the Cabinet Office released a template page from the summary document produced by UKSV after Mandelson’s vetting. The document would be used by a… Grouped from 2 articles across 1 sources.

2 reports1 sourceApr 18, 2026, 1:49 PM
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The GuardianApr 18, 2026, 1:49 PM

Olly Robbins ‘thrown under bus’ by No 10, says ex-Foreign Office chief – as it happened

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here On Friday the Cabinet Office released a template page from the summary document produced by UKSV after Mandelson’s vetting. The document would be used by a vetting officer to summarise their findings. It lists three rankings for possible “overall concern”: low, medium and high. In the next box, there is a space for a vetting officer to list the outcome of the assessment with their “overall decision or recommendation”. Again, there are three options: clearance approved, clearance approved “with risk management” or clearance denied. If it [the vetting process] did amount to failure then that fact, that ultimate conclusion would have to be conveyed to the political level, but the fact that it was not indicates to me that the fact was rather more complicated than No 10 would wish to present. Continue reading...

The GuardianApr 17, 2026, 7:59 AM

Foreign Office’s top civil servant Olly Robbins forced out over Mandelson vetting row

Keir Starmer understood to have lost confidence in official over decision to override security vetting failure Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision Sir Olly Robbins, the UK Foreign Office’s top civil servant, has been forced out of his post after the decision to fail Peter Mandelson during his security vetting was overruled by his department. Robbins was the Foreign Office’s most senior official in late January 2025 when the decision was made, paving the way for Mandelson to become the US ambassador. Continue reading...

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