Olly Robbins ‘thrown under bus’ by No 10, says ex-Foreign Office chief – UK politics live | UK news
Robbins ‘thrown under the bus’ by Number 10, says former senior civil servant
Sir Olly Robbins was “basically thrown under the bus” as a result of the “biggest diplomatic crisis” in over 40 years, according to Lord Simon McDonald.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday, Lord McDonald, an ex-permanent secretary in the Foreign Office, described Robbins as a “scalp” that the government needed after the Guardian revealed that Peter Mandelson had been appointed as ambassador to the US despite failing his vetting process.
When asked if Robbins had been “basically thrown under the bus”, Lord McDonald replied:
double quotation mark Yes. This story broke on Thursday morning in a piece in The Guardian – within the news cycle Olly Robbins had been required to resign.This shows to me that Number 10 wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly and I cannot see that there was any process, any fairness, any giving him the chance to set out his case, and that feels to me wrong.
Lord McDonald also said that the fallout from Mandelson’s appointment had been “the biggest crisis in the diplomatic service” since he joined the Foriegn Office in 1982.
Key events
After agreeing that Sir Olly Robbins was “thrown under the bus” after revelations about Peter Mandelson’s vetting process, Lord Simon McDonald also claimed that saying the vetting process “failed” wasn’t correct as “it is a very black and white word”.
Speaking on the Today programme on Saturday, Lord McDonald said:
double quotation mark These things tend to be a bit murkier than that. I mean security vetting will have incomplete information, they will be unhappy about one or two details, they’ll want mitigations to be put in place.And all of that happens quite regularly. It means there are hesitations, there are imperfections, but it doesn’t amount to failure.
If there had been a failure then that fact – that ultimate conclusion – would have to be conveyed to the political level.
But the fact that it was not indicates to me that the picture was more complicated than Number 10 wished to present.
Lord McDonald also said that losing a “top official in these circumstances is a big blow to the Foreign Office”, describing it as “a very complicated, difficult, important time internationally”, and said that the Foreign Office needed a new head quickly.
Robbins ‘thrown under the bus’ by Number 10, says former senior civil servant
Sir Olly Robbins was “basically thrown under the bus” as a result of the “biggest diplomatic crisis” in over 40 years, according to Lord Simon McDonald.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday, Lord McDonald, an ex-permanent secretary in the Foreign Office, described Robbins as a “scalp” that the government needed after the Guardian revealed that Peter Mandelson had been appointed as ambassador to the US despite failing his vetting process.
When asked if Robbins had been “basically thrown under the bus”, Lord McDonald replied:
double quotation mark Yes. This story broke on Thursday morning in a piece in The Guardian – within the news cycle Olly Robbins had been required to resign.This shows to me that Number 10 wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly and I cannot see that there was any process, any fairness, any giving him the chance to set out his case, and that feels to me wrong.
Lord McDonald also said that the fallout from Mandelson’s appointment had been “the biggest crisis in the diplomatic service” since he joined the Foriegn Office in 1982.
The Scottish Greens have pledged to introduce a misogyny bill to the next Scottish parliament.
Gillian Mackay, who co-leads the Greens in Holyrood with Ross Greer, said that the party would look to bring a Misogny and Criminal Justice bill forward, which she says would help tackle misogynistic harassment, incitement and abuse by recognising misogyny as a specific offence in Scots law.
Mackay criticised the SNP had previously announced it was dropping plans for a designed around misogyny in favour of amending the already existing hate crime act to include sex for not acting with “urgency” on a “national emergency”.
Mackay said:
double quotation mark Violence against women and girls is a national emergency which must be urgently tackled.Sadly, we haven’t seen that urgency from the Scottish Government to date, who shelved their plans.
That is why the Scottish Greens will step up and work for the Misogyny and Criminal Justice Bill that Scotland deserves, bringing misogyny into Scots law as a specific criminal offence.
As well as a stand-alone bill, the Greens have also promised to fund violence prevention services in local councils, schools and community organisations to tackle violence against women and girls.
Meanwhile, Peter Mandelson’s replacement as British ambassador to the US has said the relationship between the two countries is in the middle of an “extraordinary moment”.
Speaking in Washington on Friday, Sir Christian Turner said that the transatlantic relationship, which has become strained due to tensions over the Iran war and Donald Trump’s intense criticism of Keir Starmer for his supposed lack of support in the conflict, was still “one of the deepest and closest alliances in history”.
He said:
double quotation mark I’ve now been in this job for about two months, and they said, ‘Come to Washington for a rest. It’ll be very calm. It’ll be very quiet. You’ll be okay.’And we’re in the middle of this extraordinary moment, geopolitically, geoeconomically, and indeed for the transatlantic relationship.
It is, of course, all relative – 250 years ago we had a small disagreement. We were in the midst of a dispute back then.
To our credit, we’ve only tried to burn down the White House once since, and what began in that moment of tension has been forged into one of the deepest and closest alliances in history.
He added:
double quotation mark I like to think it’s a pragmatic partnership. It’s not one based in backwards looking and nostalgia. It’s looking forwards as it really secures security and prosperity for both Britons and Americans alike.
One the central characters in the latest uproar over the failure in Peter Mandelson’s vetting is Sir Olly Robbins, a former member of the Foreign Office who was forced to quit on Thursday after new revelations about the process were revealed by the Guardian.
With Robbins due to appear before a committee of senior MPs next week, new information about how the process failed is expected to emerge. But what do Robbins know, and how was such a colossal mistake allowed to happen?
Daniel Boffey’s analysis of Robbins, his role in the process and what his now former colleagues think of him is an important read ahead of any bombshells that may come out of next weeks grilling.
The news of Peter Mandelson failing his vetting process has left many across the UK astonished, including members of Keir Starmer’s cabinet.
A new report from the Guardian details how senior government ministers were reported as feeling “pure, unbelievable shock” at the revelations that Mandelson still found his way back into government despite the extent of his relationship with Epstein coming to light before his appointment.
You can read the full report from Kiran Stacey, Paul Lewis and Pippa Crerar below:
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of UK politics on Saturday 18 April.
Keir Starmer is facing “judgment day” according to senior government figures over the failure in Peter Mandelson’s vetting process.
The prime minister has said that was “staggered” and “furious” to have not been told about the vetting recommendation, saying that the lack of communication about the matter was unforgivable.
His government has also denied that the cabinet secretary, Antonia Romeo, and Catherine Little, the Cabinet Office’s permanent secretary, were “sitting on” the information, despite both having become aware of the situation last month.
Next week, Starmer will face what is being described as a “judgment day” as Olly Robbins, who was forced to quit the Foreign Office owing to the fallout of the failures of Mandleson’s vetting, is expected to appear before a powerful committee of MPs.
Robbins is understood to have been furious at being forced out, and there are fears that his side of events could leave Starmer, who is already facing fresh calls to resign, in an even more precarious situation.
You can read our latest report from my colleague and Guardian political editor Pippa Crerar here:
In other developments:
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Green Party MP Hannah Spencer has criticised Labour for “offensively caricaturing” working-class people by stating that they would not want a ban on greyhound racing in England.
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The government has refused to pay for over half of the compensation claims made by victims of the Windrush scandal.
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More than half of British voters would choose to rejoin the EU in a hypothetical future referendum, according to new research.
We’ll bring you the latest developments on the Mandelson scandal, and other political stories, throughout the day…
