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Starmer is facing his judgment day over Mandelson missteps

accusations he [sacked a senior civil servant](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/17/olly-robbins-peter-mandelson-vetting-what-did-he-do-why-and-who-knew) to save his premiership. It has also shone a spotlight again on what many feel is Starmer

Starmer sends 'chill' through civil service, union boss says

Starmer, is being accused of sending a "real chill throughout the civil service" after his decision to sack the lead civil servant

Starmer sees off Tory calls for inquiry into Mandelson role after No 10 flexes muscle

accusations had been “disproved” by [the testimony](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/21/olly-robbins-peter-mandelson-vetting-keir-starmer) to a Commons committee by Sir Olly Robbins, the former Foreign Office permanent secretary who was sacked by Starmer after [the Guardian disclosed](https://www.theguardian.com

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

sacked for doing what No 10 wanted by swiftly passing Mandelson through vetting, and putting in place mitigations to get around the security concerns. But on the political side, civil servants have expressed incredulity

How Olly Robbins’ knightly charm glossed over burning questions on Mandelson vetting

accusations against Olly Robbins and reinstate him”. Simon McDonald, who once held Robbins’ job as top civil servant in the Foreign Office, said if [Keir Starmer](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/keir-starmer) had only waited to hear

Keir Starmer says it is unforgivable he was not told Mandelson failed vetting

sacked Olly Robbins](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/16/foreign-offices-top-civil-servant-olly-robbins-leaves-post-in-mandelson-vetting-row), the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, on Thursday night. The prime minister will appear before MPs on Monday to give a statement about what happened

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

accused No 10 of a "dismissive" attitude towards the process - a claim Downing Street has denied. Cat Little, the most senior civil servant at the Cabinet Office, will appear before the committee on Thursday

Ministers speak out in cabinet meeting over Starmer’s sacking of Olly Robbins

civil servants across the country who are full of integrity, doing excellent work every day with a profound sense of public duty”. The revelation Mandelson was made ambassador to the US even after vetting officials

Starmer to face MPs for first time since Olly Robbins’ Mandelson evidence – UK politics live

Starmer turned this into a process debate. But that focusses attention on whether he was right to sack Robbins and many people watching the former civil servant yesterday took the view that Robbins should have

Key figure in Mandelson vetting row will not appear to give evidence to MPs

Starmer was right to sack Sir Olly last week. In a letter to the interim Foreign Office boss, Dame Emily set out some questions for Collard to answer in writing, including: "How often

Foreign secretary concerned ministers not told of Mandelson vetting fears sooner

Starmer is facing calls to resign from opposition parties and is due to answer questions on the scandal in Parliament on Monday. The Foreign Office's top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins, who was sacked

PM's ex-chief of staff says he doesn't recognise claims about his behaviour

Starmer's chief of staff. Speaking at security conference in Ukraine, McSweeney said he found it "strange reading about a character with the same name as mine sometimes", as he spoke publicly for the first

Revealed: Mandelson vetting warned of ties to senior figures in China, Russia and Israel

civil servant did not tell ministers about the agency’s findings. Robbins decided to grant Mandelson clearance on 29 January 2025, hours after his department received the UKSV file. In evidence to MPs last month

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

Starmer](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/keir-starmer), had his own Sir Humphrey moment – potentially an existential one. Olly Robbins, [fired by the prime minister](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/16/foreign-offices-top-civil-servant-olly-robbins-leaves-post-in-mandelson-vetting-row) as the Foreign Office’s permanent secretary after not informing

Senior official ousted over Mandelson security row to face MPs

Starmer faces next week, with the planned appearance coming a day after he is due to appear in the Commons to answer question about the row. Robbins's predecessor Lord Simon McDonald has defended

Key points from Starmer's Mandelson statement

Starmer has been in the Commons again defending his actions over the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US. It comes after it emerged the peer was given security clearance for the role

Keir Starmer vows to lead Labour into next general election after bruising week

sack the Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins. On Saturday night, Starmer attempted to brush off mounting unrest inside his party and shut down questions about the future of his leadership in an interview with

No way to raise Mandelson concerns, former senior official says

civil servant in the Foreign Office in 2024. Speaking to the Foreign Affairs Committee, Sir Philip said he thought appointing Lord Mandelson could be a "potentially difficult issue" because of the Labour peer's known

Digested week: King bites his tongue as a president indulges his fantasies | John Crace

servants have been reluctantly made to give evidence on Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador before the foreign affairs select committee and very instructive it has been, too. Not least

Officials deliberately withheld Mandelson vetting result from me, Starmer says

Starmer has accused officials in the Foreign Office of deliberately and repeatedly withholding the fact Lord Mandelson initially failed security vetting for the role of US ambassador. Giving a statement to MPs, the prime minister