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Key points from Starmer's Mandelson statement

reason why the overall vetting recommendation could not have been shared with him. He suggested that this was a key point of difference between him and Sir Olly Robbins, the former top civil servant

Top Cabinet Office official to give evidence to MPs about Peter Mandelson’s vetting – UK politics live

sack the Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins.”  Guardian splash Photograph: Guardian And this morning the saga continues, with **Cat Little**, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, giving evidence

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

Olly Robbins remains white hot, several days on from Keir Starmer’s decision to sack the senior Foreign Office civil servant. “It’s just total self-serving, narrow, selfish, political endgame stuff,” said one supporter

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

Robbins has accused Downing Street of taking a "dismissive approach" to vetting during Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US. Sir Olly was sacked as Foreign Office boss last week

Naming Mandelson as ambassador before vetting was mistake, minister says

Robbins and did not appear to understand how vetting worked. “The dismissal of Sir Olly risks having a serious and sustained chilling effect on serving and prospective civil servants,” O’Donnell wrote. He said Starmer

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

Olly Robbins, granted Mandelson his “developed vetting” status anyway, paving the way for him to take up his post in Washington the following month. Robbins, who has since been sacked by [Keir Starmer](https://www.theguardian.com

‘No other plan comes close’: Labour MPs turn to Burnham as pressure mounts on Starmer

reason this feels different is because it’s not factional,” one frontbencher said. “It’s not soft left, or SCG [Corbynites] – it’s actually lots of people now coming to make the same point

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

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 him that Peter Mandelson had failed his vetting for the role of ambassador in Washington

Revealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision

Olly Robbins, the current permanent secretary in the Foreign Office, was the department’s top civil servant in late January 2025 when the decision was made, having taken up the role earlier that month

In Peter Mandelson evidence, Cat Little had the best weapon: an audit trail

Olly.” Then, when she was asked why Robbins would not want the information to be shared, she said: “In the actual meeting, the specific reasons were not discussed.” Little made clear her account was based

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

sacked Lord Mandelson from the role in September 2025 over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but has been facing ongoing questions about the appointment ever since. Sir Keir Starmer's former

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

Robbins 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

Key figure in Mandelson vetting scandal will not give evidence before MPs

Olly said there was an “atmosphere of pressure” and “constant chasing” from Downing Street. - Whether he had seen the cover form for Lord Mandelson’s vetting by UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the agency responsible

Five things we learned from Cat Little’s evidence to MPs about the Mandelson saga

Olly Robbins, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office. 1. --- ## 1. Robbins refused to give Little the summary of Mandelson’s vetting Little said her then-Foreign Office counterpart had [resisted sending

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

reason, Robbins sought to interject with an answer to quite a different question. “May I cut in, Chris?” Robbins said, before informing the committee that it was not normally the case that decisions would

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

Olly Robbins refused to hand Peter Mandelson’s vetting summary to the Cabinet Office, the civil servant who leads the department has said. The summary – which would have revealed that Robbins, the now-sacked Foreign

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

Robbins thought he could manage the risk. Now I’m sure that Olly is very, very clever. But for an intelligent man he came across as – how can I say this nicely

Key takeaways from senior official on Mandelson vetting

Robbins, who was sacked as the top civil servant at the Foreign Office last week after the department's decision to grant Lord Mandelson clearance emerged. Here are the key points from her evidence

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

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 his evidence

Wednesday briefing: Where Starmer stands after another precarious day in Parliament

sack Olly Robbins,” he says. “So, if they do turn on him, that might end up being the moment that the PM realises that what people are saying about him is not going to change