Sir Olly Robbins, the former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, will set out his account to MPs this morning after being dismissed by the prime minister and foreign secretary last week. Robbins, who had held the senior post since January 2025, was removed on Thursday evening when the prime minister learned Robbins had not informed him that Lord Peter Mandelson had failed the security vetting required to be the UK’s ambassador in Washington.
Robbins is expected to explain to the Foreign Affairs Committee why he did not tell Sir Keir Starmer about the vetting outcome. Colleagues say he is bruised and upset both by losing his job and by persistent personal criticism of his conduct. A friend described Robbins as someone who does not make matters personal.
He is likely to tell MPs that his original decision was shaped by two factors: the ambassadorial appointment had already been publicly announced, and, in his view, the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 prevented him from disclosing the conclusions of the UK Security Vetting process. That legal interpretation is at the heart of the dispute.
The prime minister and his allies dispute that reading. As Sir Keir set out in the Commons on Monday, they take a different legal view and say Robbins could and should have shared the vetting outcome with ministers. Supporters of the prime minister have also questioned why Robbins, having decided initially not to disclose the information, kept that position after Lord Mandelson was removed and when questions about the appointment resurfaced.
Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has expressed anger that Robbins did not volunteer what he knew when the committee explicitly asked about Lord Mandelson’s vetting. A central line of inquiry for the committee will be whether Robbins shared the vetting information with anyone else, and, if so, who he told and what he chose to disclose or withhold.
The prime minister hopes Robbins’s testimony will support the argument that ministers had repeated opportunities to be informed but were not. After the committee session, the Commons will hold a further debate on the matter, which has been tabled by the Conservatives.
Reflecting on the experience, an ally of Robbins said the atmosphere around the affair feels like the whole of the state has been turned against him.