Starmer sacks top Foreign Office official after Mandelson vetting revelations

The Foreign Office's top civil servant is leaving his post after his department did not inform the prime minister that Lord Mandelson had failed security vetting for the role of US ambassador.

The BBC understands Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper lost confidence in Sir Olly Robbins and was effectively sacked after a Guardian investigation revealed Mandelson had not been security cleared.

The PM is facing calls to resign amid claims he misled MPs when he told them "full due process" had been followed.

Senior minister Darren Jones said Sir Keir had not been told of the vetting recommendation until Tuesday this week, had not misled MPs and would not be resigning.

Lord Mandelson was announced as the UK's ambassador to the US in December 2024, before in-depth vetting had been carried out, and formally took up the role on 10 February 2025.

Just seven months later he was sacked over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On Thursday, the government confirmed the Foreign Office went against the recommendation of the Cabinet Office's security vetting agency and allowed Lord Mandelson to take up the post.

By 11pm the same day, it was announced Sir Olly was leaving his post.

On Friday morning, Foreign Affairs select committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry invited Sir Olly to give evidence on Tuesday next week, the second time he will have been quizzed about his involvement in the Mandelson scandal.

Labour MP Dame Emily told Sky News: "Perhaps he can tell us… was it his own idea, or was he being leant on elsewhere?

"Or was he, being a civil servant, was he getting direction from elsewhere, and if so, by whom?"

Dame Emily also pointed to the careful language in a letter she received from Cooper on the vetting process, which noted the vetting process had "concluded" with clearance being granted.

"It says he was vetted, and it says he was appointed, but it doesn't say it was overridden… I'm saying is that, you know, people have basically been telling us half the story," she added.

Kemi Badenoch said the Sir Keir and ministers like Darren Jones were "taking the public for fools" as she questioned why Foreign Office officials would overrule security vetting procedures.

The Tory leader told the BBC: "They must think that everybody is stupid. Why would officials overrule an appointment of a politician?

"Let's remember, Peter Mandelson was not a civil servant who they were covering up for, he was a Labour Party member who had been brought in from outside.

"Why would officials say, 'Well he's failed the security vetting, but let's not tell the Prime Minister', why would they do that? It just doesn't make any sense."

She added: "All roads lead to resignation - at some point there has been deliberate dishonesty."

Jones told BBC Radio 4's Today programme no minister was made aware of the recommendation by UK Security Vetting at the time, nor the Foreign Office's decision to overrule it.

At the time, he said, there was no obligation in the rules for ministers to be told about security vetting decisions.

Responding to the suggestion that it was not credible that Sir Olly would not have mentioned the decision to any minister, nor the prime minister, Jones said: "I find this whole situation astonishing as well...

That's why I immediately suspended the right last night for the Foreign office and other organisations to be able to use that exemption."

Asked directly whether Sir Keir had been lied to by the Foreign Office, Jones said: "The Foreign Office did not tell the prime minister that they had granted developed vetting status to Peter Mandelson against the advice of the security and vetting process."

He said the PM had only been made aware of that on Tuesday evening when documents became available as part of the process of selecting material relating to Mandelson's appointment that is due to be released to MPs.

Jones added "no minister is allowed to see these vetting documents as a matter of principle" because professionals were employed to conduct the "deeply invasive" checks.

Jones said the PM had been planning to make a statement to MPs next Monday once he had established the full facts but had been forced to take action after the Guardian published its story.

Pressed on why Sir Keir did not raise the issue at PMQs on Wednesday - the day after he learned about it - Jones said this was because he had requested full details from Antonia Romeo, the head of the civil service, so he could be accurate when he faces MPs on Monday.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for an investigation by the Privileges Committee, the same process used to hold Boris Johnson to account over the Partygate scandal, into whether Sir Keir intentionally misled Parliament.

He told the Today programme it was "inconceivable" ministers would not have been informed about the decision.

"I don't think the prime minister can get out of his responsibility by sacking Olly Robbins, I think the buck has to stop with Mr Starmer," Sir Ed said.

He added: "I think the evidence suggests that he misled the Commons and misled the public, that's against all the rules and that's why we call for him to go."

Reform UK, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru have also called for the prime minister to go, accusing him of lying about Lord Mandelson's vetting.

Reform leader Nigel Farage told LBC radio Sir Olly Robbins is "one of the most professional civil servants in this country" and "there is no way" he would have decided to overrule security vetting procedures alone.

He said the official was being used as a "sacrificial lamb in an attempt to try and save the prime minister".

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party have written to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, calling for an investigation into whether the PM deliberately misled the public.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: "The prime minister is either incompetent, gullible or a liar. Or all three."

During Prime Minister's Questions on 10 September 2025, Sir Keir said three times that "full due process" was followed for the appointment.

The Ministerial Code states that ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament are expected to resign.

Taking questions from journalists following a press conference on 5 February in Hastings, Sir Keir also said that there was "security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave [Lord Mandelson] clearance for the role, and you have to go through that before you take up the post".

The revelations about Lord Mandelson's vetting have reignited anger over his appointment and raise further questions over the prime minister's judgement.

Sir Keir is expected to give a statement on the issue in the House of Commons on Monday.

Sir Olly, who has held a number of senior civil service roles and served as Theresa May's chief Brexit negotiator, was appointed permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office in January 2025.

Earlier, Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said she felt she had been "misled" by Sir Olly when he gave evidence to her committee last November about Lord Mandelson's vetting.

"We gave them direct questions and they half answered it, but they missed out the bit that was important... he didn't pass the vetting," she told the BBC.

Friends of Morgan McSweeney, the PM's chief adviser at the time who resigned in February over his role in Lord Mandelson's appointment, told the BBC he had not known about the conclusion of the vetting process.

The developed vetting process is carried out by UK Security Vetting, a specialist agency within the Cabinet Office, and is designed to make sure individuals are unlikely to abuse their access to secret material, or be subject to blackmail or bribery.

It includes checks on a candidate's credit history and criminal record.

Those being vetted also have to undertake an interview with a specially trained vetting officer, which can cover areas including candidates' health, friendships, family and sexual history.

The BBC understands Lord Mandelson had no knowledge about the judgements reached during his vetting process until it was reported in the media, and that no-one at any level raised anything about it with him following his vetting interview.

In February, the government agreed to release documents relating to Lord Mandelson's appointment, following a vote by MPs for them to be published.

However, the Guardian reported that senior government officials had been considering whether to withhold documents from Parliament revealing Lord Mandelson was not given vetting approval from security officials.

A spokesperson said the government was committed to complying with a parliamentary motion demanding the release of documents related to the appointment "in full as soon as possible".

Sir Keir was said to be "furious" after he found out on Tuesday evening that Lord Mandelson had failed vetting, as part of the process of going through documents to be published.

The BBC understands David Lammy, the foreign secretary at the time of Lord Mandelson's appointment, did not find out the Foreign Office had overruled the vetting until Thursday afternoon.