Sir Olly Robbins Exposes Downing Street Pressure in Lord Mandelson US Ambassador Vetting

Sir Olly Robbins, who was removed from his Foreign Office post last week, testified before MPs, insisting his handling of Lord Peter Mandelson's security clearance was proper. He maintained that he was right not to inform the Prime Minister directly about the detailed findings of the vetting process, contradicting Sir Keir Starmer's assertion that it was "incredible" he remained uninformed.

Lord Mandelson was appointed UK ambassador to the US in December 2024. However, he was dismissed seven months later after further details emerged regarding his past association with the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

Robbins described an environment of "constant pressure" from Downing Street to formalise Mandelson's appointment, citing a "strong expectation" for the former cabinet minister to be "in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible." He also revealed that his predecessor had been briefed that Downing Street believed vetting "might be unnecessary" given Mandelson's status as a peer and privy councillor, whose potential risks were supposedly "well known, and had been made clear to the prime minister before appointment."

Foreign Office Insisted on Vetting Against Downing Street's Stance

Despite the resistance, Robbins stated, "the FCDO insisted and put its foot down, I understand my predecessor had to be very firm in person." While declining to identify specific individuals, Robbins underscored a "dismissive approach" to the vetting process but affirmed his department did not "bow to pressure."

The concerns flagged by UK Security Vetting (UKSV) did not pertain to Mandelson's relationship with Epstein, Robbins told MPs, though he did not elaborate on the specific issues. Robbins maintained that sharing UKSV findings, beyond the final outcome, was against protocol, stating, "You are not supposed to share the findings and reports of UKSV, other than in the exceptional circumstances where doing so allows for the specific mitigation of risk." He clarified that he was verbally briefed on UKSV's leaning towards denying clearance, but his team assessed that the identified risks could be managed or mitigated by the Foreign Office's security department.