Kamal Ghorui
The former civil servant who oversaw the approval of Peter Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington has said he felt “political pressure” to fast-track the decision despite “security concerns.“Olly Robbins, the former head of the Foreign Office was dismissed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week amid a widening scandal that has prompted calls for the prime minister’s resignation. Mandelson was removed from his post in September last year, just nine months into the job, after further details emerged about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted US sex offender who died in prison in 2019.“There was an atmosphere of pressure from the Prime Minister’s office and a very, very strong expectation that Mandelson needed to be in post and in America as quickly as possible,” Robbins told the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, a day after Starmer was questioned by MPs over how the appointment was approved.“There was a generally dismissive attitude toward the security vetting process,” he added.Robbins further stated that the vetting agency considered Mandelson a “borderline case” and was “leaning toward recommending against” giving him security clearance. However, the Foreign Office gave the clearance anyway.He clarified that the “security concerns” were not related to Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein. He also declined to say when questioned by lawmakers what led the government’s vetting agency to flag Mandelson as a potential security risk.For his part, Starmer has acknowledged that the appointment was a “mistake” and said he would have reconsidered it had he been aware of the vetting concerns. However, he has placed responsibility on Foreign Office officials, accusing them of failing to inform him about the issues and of proceeding with the approval despite them.He described it as “frankly staggering” that he was not told about the failed security check carried out in January 2025, insisting he only learned of it last week.(With AP inputs)
