17 April 2026 , 11:34
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The Foreign Office’s top civil servant will be leaving his post after it emerged the department had overruled a security vetting process to clear Lord Peter Mandelson to become UK ambassador to the US.
Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have lost confidence in Foreign Office permanent under-secretary Sir Olly Robbins. Security officials initially denied the peer clearance, but Foreign Office officials took the rare step of overruling the recommendation.
The Prime Minister was not aware that the former Labour grandee was granted developed vetting against the advice of UK Security Vetting until earlier this week, the Government has said.
He has instructed officials to establish the facts about why vetting was granted, and the Foreign Office earlier said it is “working urgently” to comply.
Downing Street will hope his exit draws a line under the affair, but Starmer is still expected to face MPs in the Commons on Monday to account for how the vetting decision was overturned.
No 10 said Starmer and other ministers were kept in the dark about Mandelson’s failure to pass the "developed vetting" process and were only informed on Tuesday. A source described Starmer as "furious," having been repeatedly assured by the Foreign Office that Mandelson had been cleared, reported The Times.
The revelations have plunged Starmer into fresh crisis—his premiership having already come close to collapse over the Mandelson scandal in February.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for Starmer to resign. In private, some Labour ministers said his position looked untenable.
"This is a tipping point," one reportedly told the Times. "There can be no more excuses; we’re past apologies and there cannot be another fall person. The PM must go."
Deputy Editor