Foreign Office's Top Official Leaves Post Amid Vetting Row

Sir Olly Robbins, the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, is leaving his post after his department did not inform the prime minister that Lord Mandelson had failed security vetting for the role of US ambassador.

The BBC understands that Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have lost confidence in Sir Olly Robbins, and he has effectively been sacked. A spokesperson said that neither Sir Keir nor any minister were aware that Lord Mandelson had failed the vetting process until earlier this week.

Background

Lord Mandelson was announced as the UK's ambassador to the US in December 2024, before in-depth vetting had been carried out, and formally took up the role on 10 February 2025. Just seven months later, he was sacked over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Sir Keir has faced calls to resign over allegations that he misled Parliament and MPs when he claimed that "full due process" was followed during the appointment. During Prime Minister's Questions on 10 September 2025, Sir Keir said three times that "full due process" was followed for the appointment.

The Ministerial Code states that ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament are expected to resign. Taking questions from journalists following a press conference on 5 February in Hastings, Sir Keir also said that there was "security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave [Lord Mandelson] clearance for the role".

Reactions

The revelations about Lord Mandelson's vetting have reignited anger over his appointment and raise further questions over the prime minister's judgment. Sir Keir is expected to give a statement on the issue in the House of Commons on Monday.

Calling for the PM to stand down earlier, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: "It is either, he knew that Mandelson failed the security vetting and lied to us in Parliament, on TV repeatedly, or he didn't know, didn't ask and said he had passed the security vetting - which means he is hopelessly incompetent."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said that if it was true the PM was not aware Lord Mandelson had failed security vetting, he should have "told Parliament at the earliest opportunity, not waited for the media to force the truth out". "His failure to do that alone is surely a breach of the ministerial code," he added.

Reform UK, the Green Party, and Plaid Cymru have also called for the prime minister to go, accusing him of lying about Lord Mandelson's vetting.

Investigations

The Scottish National Party has written to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, calling for an investigation into whether the PM deliberately misled the public. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: "The prime minister is either incompetent, gullible or a liar. Or all three."

Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said she felt she had been "misled" by Sir Olly when he gave evidence to her committee last November about Lord Mandelson's vetting.