The former senior civil servant at the Foreign Office who was dismissed by the prime minister and foreign secretary last week will set out his account in Parliament this morning.
Sir Olly Robbins, who had served as permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office since January 2025, was removed from his post last Thursday evening after the prime minister learned Sir Olly had not told him that Lord Peter Mandelson had failed the security vetting needed to be the UK’s ambassador in Washington.
Sir Olly is expected to explain why he did not inform Sir Keir Starmer and is said to be bruised and upset by losing his job and by the repeated, personal criticisms of his conduct.
A friend of Sir Olly told the BBC: “Olly doesn’t do personal. He never has and he never will.”
He is likely to tell the Foreign Affairs Committee the context for his original decision – that Lord Mandelson’s ambassadorial appointment had already been publicly announced and that, in his view, the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 meant he was not authorised to disclose the conclusions of the UK Security Vetting process.
The prime minister’s allies argue, as Sir Keir set out in the Commons on Monday, that their legal reading is different and that Sir Olly could and should have shared the vetting outcome with ministers.
Supporters of the prime minister say they cannot understand why Sir Olly, having first decided not to disclose the information, maintained that position after Lord Mandelson was sacked and when questions about the appointment process resurfaced.
Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, is angry that Sir Olly did not tell the committee what he knew when they explicitly asked about Lord Mandelson’s vetting.
A key issue for the committee is whether Sir Olly shared the information with anyone else, and if so who he told and what he chose to disclose or withhold.
The prime minister hopes Sir Olly’s testimony will bolster the argument that there were repeated chances for ministers to be informed that were not taken.
Following the committee session, the Commons will hold another debate on the matter, tabled by the Conservatives.
Reflecting on suggestions that the whole of the British state was being mobilised against Sir Olly, an ally said: “That’s exactly how it feels.”
