'Sacked Olly Robbins' revelations add to Keir Starmer's woes at dangerous moment'

'Sacked Olly Robbins' revelations add to Keir Starmer's woes at dangerous moment' Sir Olly Robbins chief used his moment at the Foreign Affairs Committee to show he would not go quietly after Keir Starmer laid the blame for Mandelson's vetting fiasco at his doorCommentsNewsopinionLizzy Buchan Political Editor18:29, 21 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesSir Olly Robbins' evidence has piled further pressure on the PM(Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)"Grimacing".‌That was the verdict from one Labour MP after Sir Olly Robbins delivering a quietly devastating testimony about the relentless pressure from No10 to send Peter Mandelson to Washington.‌The sacked Foreign Office chief used his moment at the Foreign Affairs Committee to show he would not go quietly after Keir Starmer laid the blame for the vetting fiasco squarely at his door.‌Over two-and-a-half hours, the unflashy mandarin calmly lobbed a bunch of grenades at No10. He claimed there was a "dismissive" approach to the peer's vetting process and said his department was under relentless pressure from above to fast-track Lord Mandelson's appointment in time for Donald Trump's inauguration.And he came armed with the explosive revelation that Downing Street sought to install the PM's then-spin chief Matthew Doyle in a top diplomatic post while keeping the Foreign Secretary in the dark.READ MORE: Olly Robbins piles pressure on PM amid claims No10 said 'just f***ing approve' Mandelson - 13 things we learnedREAD MORE: Who is Olly Robbins - Ex-Brexit negotiator facing Starmer's wrath over MandelsonView 3 ImagesThe decision to appoint Peter Mandelson is haunting the Prime Minister(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)‌Doyle was made a peer instead but later lost the Labour whip over his links to a convicted sex offender. Another scandal No10 would like to see recede from the public's mind.The one bright spot was Sir Olly confirmed that he did not tell the Pr...