Keir Starmer sacks Foreign Office chief over Lord Mandelson vetting scandal

Sir Keir Starmer and the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper have lost confidence in him amid the controversy over Lord Peter Mandelson's security vetting failure.

It comes just moments after it was understood David Lammy - who served as Foreign Secretary at the time of Lord Mandelson's appointment - did not know the Foreign Office overruled the vetting process until Thursday afternoon.

Sir Olly was appointed permanent under-secretary for the Foreign Office on January 8 last year.

He had previously come into the spotlight during Brexit negotiations under former Prime Minister Theresa May.

Earlier on Thursday, the Foreign Affairs select committee intended to summon Sir Olly over his previous evidence on the vetting process.

Dame Emily Thornberry had hoped to speak to the top civil servant over his previous evidence he had given in the Lord Mandelson vetting scandal.

Rachel Reeves, speaking to reporters in Washington ahead of her meeting with her US counterpart, said: "I didn’t know anything about the vetting process. I’m the Chancellor, I’m not the foreign secretary, and I’m not 10 Downing Street, so I can’t give you any more information on that."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also joined in calls for the Prime Minister to resign.

Sir Ed said: "Keir Starmer had already made a catastrophic error of judgement. Now it looks as though he has also misled Parliament and lied to the British public. If that is the case, he must go."

Green Party MPs and Reform UK have also joined in calls for him to resign.

Lord Mandelson was sacked as ambassador to the US in September over his alleged ties to the convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Morgan McSweeney resigned for his part in the appointment, with reports he advocated for Lord Mandelson to be placed in the ambassadorial role.

A phone stolen from Mr McSweeney led to fears messages relevant to the appointment of the former ambassador could be permanently lost.

At the time of his resignation Mr McSweeney said: "When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment, and I take full responsibility for that advice."

Sir Olly previously served under David Cameron as his Deputy National Security Advisor, a role responsible for managing Britain's intelligence and security services.

Before that, he served as principal private secretary under Tony Blair and worked in the Cabinet Office under Gordon Brown.

As chief Brexit negotiator in 2019, he was accused of giving away too much to Brussels, with his agreements twice rejected in the Commons.

A Government spokesman said: "Neither the Prime Minister, nor any Government Minister, was aware that Peter Mandelson was granted Developed Vetting against the advice of UK Security Vetting until earlier this week.

"Once the Prime Minister was informed he immediately instructed officials to establish the facts about why the Developed Vetting was granted, in order to enact plans to update the House of Commons.

"The Government is committed to complying with the Humble Address in full as soon as possible. Any documentation within the scope of the Humble Address that requires redaction on the basis of national security or international relations will be provided to the ISC. This will include documents provided to the FCDO by UK Security Vetting."

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