Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office Cat Little confirms that she wasn't involved in the appointment of Peter Mandelson to the ambassadorship of Washington.
Speaking to the Foreign Affairs Commitee, Ms Little said: "First, I have not been involved at all in either the events to appoint or withdraw Peter Mandelson from Washington.
"My first involvement was when I became responsible for the humble address in February, when I was asked to lead this process by the Prime Minister as the acting Cabinet Secretary.
"The second thing I should really make clear is that, as has been said in a number of pieces of evidence to you, the sanctity of the operational security vetting system is absolutely essential to the day to day running of national security for this country. And so in my responsibilities for overseeing security vetting, I have absolutely nothing to do with the day to day operations of UKSV."
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