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No 10 had 'dismissive attitude' to Mandelson vetting, says sacked Foreign Office chief

dismissive approach towards vetting, and said it was reasonable to ask for updates on the appointment. Lord Mandelson was announced as the UK's ambassador

Key points as MPs question former Foreign Office boss on Mandelson vetting row

reasonable" that he should have been involved. But he also noted that it was a political appointment rather than an internal civil servant recruitment and concluded he was "a bit conflicted" on the question

Naming Mandelson as ambassador before vetting was mistake, minister says

ambassadors.” The established process “in retrospect was inadequate”, he said. “That’s why, already, even before the events of the last few days, the government has moved to change that process to make sure that

Ex-FCDO chief tells MPs he had concerns over Mandelson’s Epstein links

reasonable for the head of the Foreign Office to be involved in thinking around what is our major top bilateral ambassador post”. But he said he accepted it had been a “political matter

Olly Robbins refused to hand Mandelson vetting summary to Cabinet Office, says Cat Little

ambassador to the US, in response to a Commons “humble address” motion forcing their release. As part of this, she told the committee, Robbins – who was [dismissed as Foreign Office permanent secretary](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/16/foreign-offices-top-civil-servant-olly-robbins-leaves-post-in-mandelson-vetting-row)

‘Self-serving stuff’: anger remains high in Whitehall over Olly Robbins sacking

ambassador [Peter Mandelson](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/peter-mandelson) had not passed UK security vetting. There is strong support for Robbins within Whitehall, with senior civil servants said to believe he was in effect sacked for doing what

PM's ex-chief of staff to give evidence on Mandelson vetting

ambassador to the US, is likely to face questions about whether he put pressure on civil servants to speed up the vetting. It comes after former senior Foreign Office civil servant Sir Olly Robbins accused

Ministers have no authority to withhold Mandelson vetting file, committee says

reason to withhold certain documents, it does not currently have the authority to so do.” Starmer’s government is now expected to face intense pressure to explain why it has chosen to withhold the vetting

Olly Robbins and Mandelson’s vetting: what did he do, why – and who knew?

ambassador to the US two months earlier, after the disclosure of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails. MPs on the cross-party foreign affairs select committee were grilling the most senior civil servants involved in Mandelson

No, Minister: the week Keir Starmer had his own Sir Humphrey moment

ambassador in Washington, appeared before the foreign affairs select committee, as many a civil servant embroiled in a crisis has in the past. How was it that Mandelson took up the job, given that vetting