Olly Robbins says he faced ‘constant pressure’ to get Mandelson in post

Sacked civil servant discloses he overturned vetting ruling without knowing full extent of national security concernsThe sacked senior civil servant Oliver Robbins has said he was subject to “constant pressure” when he started working at the Foreign Office to get Peter Mandelson in post as soon as possible.He said the Cabinet Office urged the Foreign Office to allow Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US without the usual vetting process but the Foreign Office pushed back and the vetting eventually went ahead. Continue reading...