‘Very bad for Starmer’ - sacked civil servant turns on government over Mandelson
Peter Mandelson's appointment as ambassador by Sir Keir Starmer to the US was a rush-job, carried out under an 'atmosphere of pressure' from 10 Downing Street and a 'dismissive attitude' to security vetting.
That's the claim of Sir Olly Robbins, the sacked head of the foreign office as he was grilled by parliament's foreign affairs committee.
So, is it now clear what happened behind the scenes?
No 10 denies Robbins’ characterisation of events, but could this still be damning for Starmer's premiership or has the PM's decision to sack his senior mandarin been vindicated?
On this episode of the…
The skinny
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