UK Foreign Office Chief Sir Olly Robbins Testifies on Pressure to Approve Mandelson's US Ambassador Security Vetting

Gate News message, April 22 — Sir Olly Robbins, the ousted UK Foreign Office chief, testified before Parliament’s foreign affairs select committee yesterday (April 21) that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s former chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney allegedly told a senior official to “just f***ing approve” Lord Peter Mandelson’s security clearance for the US ambassador role.

Robbins stated that he perceived a “dismissive approach” to Mandelson’s vetting process originating from No. 10 Downing Street. The UK Security Vetting (UKSV) body had flagged two red boxes on Mandelson’s security form, indicating “high concern” and recommending that clearance be “denied or withdrawn.” Robbins claimed UKSV considered Mandelson a “borderline case” leaning toward recommending denial. He acknowledged that there was “very strong expectation” from Downing Street for Mandelson to be “in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible” before Donald Trump’s inauguration, and that retracting the appointment could have caused “quite an issue” in UK-US relations.

Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch called Robbins’ testimony “devastating” and accused the Prime Minister of misleading Parliament on national security matters. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed he and then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy had expressed concerns about the appointment beforehand. Mandelson was ultimately dismissed from the US ambassador position in September 2026 following revelations about his long-standing association with financier Jeffrey Epstein.