Richard Michael Blaberhttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/21/olly-robbins-peter-mandelson-vetting-keir-starmer. "The sacked senior civil servant Oliver #Robbins has said he was subject to 'constant pressure' when he arrived in the #ForeignOffice to get Peter #Mandelson in post as soon as possible. He said the #CabinetOffice urged the Foreign Office to allow Mandelson’s #appointment as the UK’s #ambassador to the #US without the usual #vetting #process but the Foreign Office pushed back & the vetting eventually went ahead." Who in the Cabinet Office was doing this?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/apr/21/olly-robbins-peter-mandelson-vetting-keir-starmer-uk-politics-latest-news-updates. "[The] #CabinetOffice suggested #Mandelson did not even need #security #vetting, #Robbins tells MPs... 'After the announcement, I believe the Cabinet Office (CO) raised whether Developed Vetting (DV) was actually necessary. I understand the #FCDO insisted that DV was a #requirement before Mandelson took up his post in #Washington.'" This all gets murkier, doesn't it? Talk about muddied waters!
FllicsLIVE: Former UK foreign office official Olly Robbins questioned over Mandelson vetting
Former foreign office official Olly Robbins, who was sacked over his role in the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, gives evidence to parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. #UK #Politics #OllyRobbins #Mandelson #Parliament #ForeignAffairs #Vetting #Inquiry #live #Reuters #News Keep up with the latest news from around the world:
LIVE: Former UK foreign office official Olly Robbins questioned over Mandelson vetting
Former foreign office official Olly Robbins, who was sacked over his role in the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, gives evidence to parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. #UK #Politics #OllyRobbins #Mandelson #Parliament #ForeignAffairs #Vetting #Inquiry #live #Reuters #News Keep up with the late
LIVE: Former UK foreign office official Olly Robbins questioned over Mandelson vetting
Former foreign office official Olly Robbins, who was sacked over his role in the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, gives evidence to parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. #UK #Politics #OllyRobbins #Mandelson #Parliament #ForeignAffairs #Vetting #Inquiry #live #Reuters #News Keep up with the latest news from around the world:
LIVE: Former UK foreign office official Olly Robbins questioned over Mandelson vetting
Former foreign office official Olly Robbins, who was sacked over his role in the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, gives evidence to parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. #UK #Politics #OllyRobbins #Mandelson #Parliament #ForeignAffairs #Vetting #Inquiry #live #Reuters #News Keep up with the late
GrumpyOldFart“Labour defence lines leaked ahead of Starmer’s Mandelson grilling”
by Willem Moore in The Canary
@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics
@UKLabour
@ZackPolanski
“The PM claims he was unaware of the vetting issue; the public are struggling to believe him.
In aid of his latest excuse-fest, Team Starmer produced the following document which has now leaked”
https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2026/04/20/labour-starmer-mandelson/
#Press #SocialMedia #UK #Starmer #Labour #Mandelson #Epstein #Vetting #Failure #Lies #Parliament #StarmerOut
CBC WorldU.K. prime minister says he didn't know Epstein-linked ambassador failed vetting process
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke today about the fact that Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the U.S. despite a recommendation against him receiving security clearance.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/keir-starmer-mandelson-ambassador-9.7170379?cmp=rss
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke today about the fact that Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the U.S. despite a recommendation against him receiving security clearance.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/keir-starmer-mandelson-ambassador-9.7170379?cmp=rss
CBC Top StoriesU.K. prime minister says he didn't know Epstein-linked ambassador failed vetting process
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke today about the fact that Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the U.S. despite a recommendation against him receiving security clearance.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/keir-starmer-mandelson-ambassador-9.7170379?cmp=rss
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke today about the fact that Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the U.S. despite a recommendation against him receiving security clearance.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/keir-starmer-mandelson-ambassador-9.7170379?cmp=rss
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/20/keir-starmer-admit-inadvertently-gave-mps-misleading-information-peter-mandelson. I "inadvertently admit" that I DON'T BELIEVE A F**KING WORD of it! #Starmer is a LIAR! Why Oliver Robbins chose to fall on his metaphorical sword, I don't know, I only know his motivation can't have been #financial, given his previous employment with Goldman Sachs. I also know the idea the Permanent Secretary at the #FCDO could overrule Mandelson's #security #vetting on his own initiative & in secret is utter BS! Starmer ought to RESIGN!
“Mandelson was not made ambassador despite his ties to Epstein but because of them”
by Ricky And Council Estate Media on Substack
“Starmer has the look of a man who is not in control, who is tormented by every excruciating decision he makes, who knows he looks like a fool. It is not hard to join the dots and see that there is more at play, that Starmer was instructed to hire the guy at the heart of the Epstein blackmail ring. We can only speculate about what leverage the Epstein class has over Starmer, but it must be strong. No one would want to harm their own reputation for a guy as loathsome as Peter Mandelson”
https://open.substack.com/pub/councilestatemedia/p/mandelson-was-not-made-ambassador
#Press #SocialMedia #UK #Starmer #Mandelson #Epstein #EpsteinFiles #Scandal #Ambassdor #CabinetOffice #ForeignOffice #Vetting #Failure #StarmerOut #Labour
Indieterminacy> But failing the developed #vetting process – a carefully made decision taken by professionals of deep experience – and then having that decision overturned is incredibly rare.
>
> I believe the idea that Robbins made such an unusual decision – to not tell his superiors that Mandelson’s vetting had failed – without consulting or at the very least informing relevant others, is completely implausible. That is why I suspect Robbins and the #FCDO may be being unfairly made the fall guys.
> ...
> What really boggles the mind about this whole scandal is the amount of political danger the prime minister and his erstwhile chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, were willing to risk in order to get #Mandelson into the US ambassador role.
I’m no Foreign Office fan, but Olly Robbins has been unfairly made a fall guy
I worked as a diplomat for a more than a decade – the suggestion that the Foreign Office failed to tell Downing Street that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting is too fantastical to be the whole story, writes Ameer Kotecha