Sir Olly Robbins has accused No10 of taking a “dismissive approach” to the vetting of Lord Peter Mandelson.
In a letter just prior to a grilling from MPs, the recently sacked Foreign Office chief laid out what he described as “an atmosphere of pressure” surrounding the appointment of the now-disgraced former ambassador to the US.
He wrote: “Cumulatively, [those points] resulted in a dismissive approach to DV [developed vetting] from No10 Downing Street for the remainder of the process.
“Nonetheless, despite this atmosphere of pressure, the department completed DV to the normal high standard.”
During the grilling, Sir Olly said there was “a very, very strong expectation” that Peter Mandelson “needed to be in post as quickly as humanly possible”.
He added: “There was then a debate, between Cabinet Office, FCDO about how to make sure that he is sent out to post with the appropriate clearance, and that took several days.
“And a position taken from the Cabinet Office was that there was no need to vet Mandelson. He was a member of the House of Lords, he was a Privy Counsellor.
“The risks that attending his appointment were well known and have been made clear to the prime minister before appointment.”
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Sir Olly Robbins claims the Prime Minister made political judgement over Peter Mandelson to bypass vetting process
When quizzed on why advice to security vet Lord Peter Mandelson was not followed prior to his appointment, Sir Olly Robbins speculated the Prime Minister likely made a conscious political judgment that the peer's well-known risks were outweighed by his value in Washington and effectively decided to bypass the formal vetting process on that basis.
Decisons made was 'rigorously independent of pressure', says Olly Robbins
Sir Olly Robbins said that despite the pressure on the the civil service over Peter Mandelson's appointment, the decision was made "rigorously independent" of any external influence.
Prime Minister was given advice to do security vetting for political appointments in November 2024, says Olly Robbins
Now quizzing Sir Olly Robbins is Sir John Whittingdale, who first asked if the ex-Foreign Office boss was surprised at the pace the appointment happened.
Sir Olly, speaking before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said he was not surprised the appointment had proceeded without vetting being complete first.
He said that the Prime Minister was given advice in November 2024 by Lord Simon Case that if he wished to make a political appointment, to obtain security clearance before making the announcement would be "the safest course".
Sir Olly also said that by the time the vetting decision was made, the UK had already committed itself internationally and that if the appointment has been revoked "that would have damaged our relations with the United States".
It is a 'red herring' to focus on who knew about security vetting decision, says Sir Olly Robbins
Sir Olly Robbins argued it is a "red herring" to focus on who was told about the UKSV vetting decision on Lord Peter Mandelson, he pointed out that the peer himself received a contract of employment and a posting letter to Washington within hours of the decision.
Emily Thornberry has continued to reiterate why there is a lack of records between Sir Olly and No10 over the appointment, as evidence of the pressure he felt, pointing to this being a failure of process or something more deliberate.
Peter Mandelson security vetting caution not based on relationship with Epstein, says Sir Olly Robbins
Emily Thornberry quizzed Sir Olly Robbins on January 28, when the UKSV results returned on Lord Peter Mandelson.
He said that he believed UKSV considered Lord Mandelson a "borderline case" and that the risks "did not relate to Mandelson's relationship to Jeffrey Epstein", so at the time he suggested the Foreign Office "might wish to grant clearance with appropriate risk management".
'An atmosphere of constant chasing' - Sir Olly Robbins says pressure came from 'private office to private office'
Sir Olly Robbins said that there was an "atmosphere of constant chasing" over the Lord Peter Mandelson appointment.
Emily Thornberry pressed him on what this source of pressure was, he said it was from the "private office", but refused to name names.
He said that other officials at No10 were likely to be under pressure themselves and does not hold "private secretaries responsible".
'I walked into something with already very strong expectation' - Sir Olly Robbins emphasises pressure he was on over Peter Mandelson appointment
Sir Olly Robbins, speaking to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee illustrated how he came into a situation of high pressure in regard to appointing Lord Peter Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the US.
He said that on top of the pressure, there was a "dismissive approach" by No10 towards the vetting of Lord Mandelson, which meant there was a "very, very strong expectation" that Lord Mandelson would become the UK's chief diplomat to the US.
Emily Thornberry opens Foreign Affairs Select Committee seeking 'the whole truth'
Emily Thornberry welcomes the Sir Olly Robbins to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
She said that he "clearly told us the truth, but you only gave us part of the truth", but she wants to gain "the whole truth today".
Ms Thornberry posed the first question to Sir Olly, asking him what "the state of play" at the time of the appointment.
WATCH: Sir James Cleverly tells GB News the Conservatives will 'keep asking questions' to get to bottom of Peter Mandelson scandal
Sir James Cleverly Shadow Secretary for Housing shared his thoughts on the unfolding Lord Peter Mandelson scandal, calling for Sir Keir Starmer to resign.
Ed Miliband confesses he thought Peter Mandelson appointment 'could blow up'
Ed Miliband, the Secretary for Net Zero, has said he thought Lord Peter Mandelson's appointment as UK ambassador to the US could "blow up".
Speaking to Sky News, he said on the announcement: "That it could blow up, that it could go wrong.
"I had a conversation with David Lammy about it before the appointment, and I said I was worried about it... I think he was worried about it too."
He further claimed he "steered clear" of Lord Mandelson after becoming Labour leader in 2010, confessing he thought the disgraced peer's appointment was a mistake.
However, the Net Zero Secretary emphasised that Sir Keir Starmer should not resign.
'The Prime Minister should go' - Shadow Housing Secretary calls Peter Mandelson scandal 'unbelievable'
Sir James Cleverly, Shadow Secretary for Housing, said, that the Government's claim that they didn't ask on the appointment process made on Lord Peter Mandelson is "unbelievable".
Speaking to GB News, he said: "I would have asked, I would of said, 'what's happened to the vetting? Has he got the green light? I need to know'."
Sir James continued to say that Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US was "catastrophically bad judgement", concluding that Sir Keir Starmer "should go".
UK unemployment rate falls
The UK umemployment rate fell to 4.9 per cent in the three months to February - this is down from 5.2 per cent in the three months to January, according to new data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Also, the ONS have said average regular earnings growth has fallen to 3.6 per cent in the three months to February and was 0.4 per cent greater after taking Consumer Prices Index inflation into account.
In response to the figures, Pat McFadden, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said: "These figures show that there was an improvement in the labour market at the beginning of the year with unemployment falling below 5 per cent, and 332,000 more people in work than a year ago.
“But we cannot escape the effects of the war in the Middle East which are likely to feed through to prices and employment in the coming months.
"We will do everything we can to support the country through this period, including by slashing energy bills by up to 25 per cent for 10,000 manufacturers.
Labour on brink of becoming FIFTH most popular party in Britain as brutal new polling emerges
Labour is now on the brink of being the fifth most popular party in Britain, a brutal new poll has revealed.
Fresh data from YouGov has found that just 16 per cent of Britons would vote for Sir Keir Starmer's party - now behind Reform UK, the Conservatives and even now the Greens.
Nigel Farage's party secured a three percentage point boost over last week's data, with 27 per cent of Britons opting for Reform.
It is the only party to receive more than a 17 per cent prospective vote share.
After falling by two points, Kemi Badenoch's Tories sit 10 adrift of Reform on 17 per cent, while the Greens fell by one to the same level.
The Lib Dems, after picking up one percentage point, sit in fifth place on 14 per cent.
Keir Starmer faces emergency debate on Lord Mandelson appointment in just hours
Sir Keir Starmer will face an emergency debate on Lord Mandelson's appointment today
| PASir Keir Starmer will face an emergency debate on Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's Ambassador to the US following an application by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
The Prime Minister was today hit with a barrage of criticism from MPs across the House of Commons after it emerged that Lord Mandelson did not pass security vetting.
Mrs Badenoch, who said "serious questions [remain] about what he knew and when" and warned the Prime Minister had "serious inconsistencies" in his position, had her pitch accepted by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
The debate is expected to start at around 12.30pm on Tuesday, shortly after Sir Olly Robbins provides evidence to MPs...
CONFIRMED: Exact time for Olly Robbins committee appearance
The Foreign Affairs Select Committee has confirmed Sir Olly Robbins will be appearing before MPs at 9am today.
You'll be able to follow the latest from his grilling live HERE - and by following along with our live blog here.
Meanwhile in Washington... Donald Trump brutally rips into Keir Starmer for appointing Lord Mandelson
In what will likely be seen as an untimely intervention from DC this morning, Donald Trump has laid into Sir Keir Starmer over his appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
Mr Trump said: "Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom acknowledged that he 'exercised wrong judgement' when he chose his ambassador to Washington.
"I agree, he was a really bad pick."
"Plenty of time to recover, however," the President prodded.
READ THE FULL STORY ON DONALD TRUMP'S LATEST ATTACK ON THE PM HERE