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The Latest Breaking News from the Foreign Office

Mandelson vetting scandal: why Whitehall is the worst of all worlds when it comes to accountability

Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US keeps coming back to haunt him. It has now emerged that Mandelson was granted security clearance by the Foreign Office, despite concerns raised during the vetting process. Top Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins was sacked over these…

The Conversation

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

Former Foreign Office top official’s evidence raises stark issues with ‘the system’ he was seeking to defend

The Guardian - UK

After Starmer and Robbins, McSweeney faces a grilling on Mandelson. Can this government survive? Our panel responds

The civil servant says he was pressured by No 10 to get Mandelson’s vetting done; the PM says he wasn’t informed. Who emerges most damaged?

The Guardian - UK

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Starmer admits his former spin doctor was considered for top ambassador job

Calls for an inquiry as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accuses PM of delivering ‘cronyism and an old boy’ club’

The Independent UK

Keir Starmer does not deny No 10 considered giving Lord Doyle diplomatic job

The Prime Minister said there were ‘often conversations about other roles’ when staff leave roles ‘in any organisation’.

Evening Standard

Starmer looks less like a PM and more like a lawyer desperately trying to defend himself

NEWS ANALYSIS: Starmer has found himself standing in the courtroom of public opinion, battling to save a threadbare case, says political editor David Maddox

The Independent UK

'Don't ditch Keir,' Cabinet ally Pat McFadden urges Labour MPs but won't say Starmer right to sack Olly Robbins

Sir Keir Starmer was facing a grilling at Prime Minister’s Questions over the Mandelson vetting storm

Evening Standard

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Wednesday briefing: Can Keir Starmer’s premiership survive more revelations about his handling of diplomatic posts?

In today’s newsletter: Olly Robbins’ appearance before MPs raises fresh questions about how key diplomatic appointments are handled, threatening to engulf the prime minister at a precarious political moment

The Guardian - UK

Olly Robbins’ account of Mandelson vetting piles pressure on Keir Starmer

Sacked civil servant tells select committee of ‘pressure’ to give clearance and ‘dismissive’ attitude to vetting

The Guardian - UK

Anger remains white hot in Whitehall over Olly Robbins sacking

Keir Starmer’s decision to oust senior official may have knock-on effect for No 10’s relationship with civil service

The Guardian - UK

Inquiry under way into Lord Mandelson vetting leak, MPs told

Sir Olly Robbins said it was deeply worrying that the story was given to The Guardian.

Evening Standard

An inquiry into Lord Mandelson vetting leak under way, MPs told

Sir Olly Robbins said it was deeply worrying that the story was given to The Guardian

The Independent UK

Robbins asked if No 10 told Foreign Office to ‘just f***ing approve’ Mandelson vetting

Sir Olly Robbins was asked whether Morgan McSweeney, the then-chief of staff for Sir Keir Starmer, told the Foreign Office to “just f***ing approve” Peter Mandelson’s security vetting for his appointment as ambassador to the US.

The Independent UK

No 10 put ‘constant pressure’ on Foreign Office to get Mandelson in post

Downing Street also accused of trying to find diplomatic job for former Starmer aide Matthew Doyle, later suspended by the party for his links to a convicted paedophile

The Independent UK

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The Guardian - UK

Starmer still faces more questions than answers after Olly Robbins’ quietly damning defence

Sacked civil servant told Commons committee there was pressure from No 10 to approve appointment of Mandelson

The Guardian - UK

It’s a nightmare on Downing Street: Starmer has no one left to blame for this Mandelson horror show

Olly Robbins’s testimony will have been painful for the PM. The No 10 omnishambles was publicly laid bare – and Keir’s fresh out of scapegoats, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

The Guardian - UK

Robbins’ account raises questions over whether he was misled on Mandelson vetting

Sacked Foreign Office chief tells MPs he was briefed that UKSV considered Mandelson ‘a borderline case’

The Guardian - UK

Robbins v Starmer: the key points they disagree on over Mandelson vetting

Sacked civil servant says it was right not to tell PM that Mandelson had failed vetting – a view Starmer rejects

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The Independent UK

Every revelation from Olly Robbins’ evidence over Mandelson’s appointment

The former top official at the Foreign Office was sacked last week over failings around Peter Mandelson’s vetting

Evening Standard

Key points: Olly Robbins gives evidence on Lord Mandelson vetting scandal

The sacked civil servant was answering questions at the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

Evening Standard

Sir Olly Robbins ‘desperately sad’ to be sacked over Mandelson vetting process

The former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office celebrated his birthday on Monday.

The Independent UK

No 10 ‘secretly pushed Olly Robbins to give ambassador job to disgraced Starmer aide’

Matthew Doyle, Keir Starmer’s former communications chief, was suspended by Labour over his past association with paedophile councillor Sean Morton

The Independent UK

Olly Robbins reveals cronyism under Starmer is worse than we ever thought

NEWS ANALYSIS: The sacked Foreign Office chief gave evidence to MPs over the Mandelson scandal – and exposed the rotten core of Keir Starmer’s government, says political editor David Maddox

Evening Standard

Robbins defends actions in Mandelson case after being fired by Starmer

Sacked Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins appeared before MPs to explain his actions in granting Lord Mandelson security clearance.

The Guardian - UK

Olly Robbins: I was asked to find job for Starmer aide and not tell David Lammy

Sacked civil servant says No 10 pushed Foreign Office to find diplomatic role for Matthew Doyle without informing foreign secretary

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