Olly Robbins launches legal challenge to dismissal as Foreign Office chief by Keir Starmer

Robbins appearing before the foreign affairs committee in April. Photograph: Parliament TV/Reuters

Olly Robbins, the former Foreign Office chief sacked by Keir Starmer over the Peter Mandelson security vetting scandal, has submitted a legal challenge over his dismissal.

Robbins has applied to the high court for a judicial review of the prime minister’s decision to remove him as the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, the FDA union representing him said in a statement.