Sir Keir Starmer is under fresh scrutiny after the top civil servant sacked over the Mandelson scandal claimed that the Foreign Office was subjected to “constant pressure” to approve Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US regardless of the outcome of security vetting.
In an extraordinary two-hour-long session, Sir Olly Robbins also told MPs that No 10 had tried to fix a diplomatic role for a long-term Labour adviser and ally of Sir Keir, Matthew Doyle, who has since been promoted to the Lords but shortly after was suspended from the party because of his links to a convicted paedophile.
