Sheffield MP questions Foreign Office official Olly Robbins over Mandelson scandal facing Prime Minister
A Sheffield MP has questioned the Foreign Office official sacked over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal about his role in events.
Sheffield Central MP Abtisam Mohamed is a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons.
The committee yesterday (April 21) questioned Sir Olly Robbins, former Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
He has become centrally involved in the ongoing scandal about the appointment of Lord Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US.
Peter Mandelson was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his connections to the US billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was arrested for the same reason and both were released under investigation.
Clearance
Sir Olly was sacked by the Prime Minister last week following reports that United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) recommended against clearance for Peter Mandelson before he was appointed to the Washington role.
There have been mounting calls for the Prime Minister to resign over the issue.
Sir Olly Robbins told Ms Mohamed and other MPs that the Foreign Office faced “constant pressure” from Number 10 to get Peter Mandelson in post and in Washington “at pace” before US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
He described a dismissive attitude to any hold-ups to that process. He said the Number 10 opinion was that Peter Mandelson did not need vetting as a member of the House of Lords and Privy Councillor.
Ms Mohamed asked Sir Olly whether he had been told the security clearance had been denied when the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was made.
He responded: “This is one of the most important misunderstandings. UKSV do not deny clearance in the Foreign Office.
Pressure
“They make findings and they make a recommendation. I was told that that recommendation was that they “leant against” and it was a borderline case.
“That’s the conversation I relayed to the committee.”
She asked: “So the pressure, I understand, in terms of the phone calls that you spoke about, what did the dismissiveness look like?”
He replied: “If you wanted to convey to the Foreign Office we want this done in a steady, measured, rigorous way, those are adjectives you could have used but instead the direct, written pressure… the direct written pressure was ‘get this done and get this done before inauguration’.
“Now if Number 10 had wanted to say, ‘subject to the successful achievement of developed vetting status’, they could have done so.”
Consequences
Ms Mohamed asked: “Do you often think of the consequences of the decision that you made?”
Sir Olly replied: “I’ve had plenty of opportunity over the last few days to reflect on that and I think of the consequences of it.
“Right now I’m afraid for my wonderful family and for the fact that I don’t seem to be able to sleep in my own home and various other things, but I don’t reflect negatively on the professionalism or the judgements of my colleagues or, I hope, myself.”
The MP shared video of the exchange and said on her social media feeds: “The Foreign Affairs Select Committee exists to hold the Foreign Office to account and today was no exception.
“Thanks to Olly Robbins for answering our questions and I’m sorry to hear about the personal impact this has had on his family.