Starmer sacked Olly Robbins before he could defend himself over Mandelson scandal, allies say
Starmer sacked Olly Robbins before he could defend himself over Mandelson scandal, allies say
David MaddoxWed, April 22, 2026 at 5:45 PM UTC
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Allies of Sir Olly Robbins have claimed he was sacked by the prime minister without even being asked to explain his handling of the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal.
Sir Keir Starmer dismissed the former Foreign Office chief last week for failing to tell him that Lord Mandelson had failed vetting for the US ambassador role.
Asked on Monday in the Commons whether he had sought an explanation from Sir Olly by veteran Tory MP Sir Julian Lewis, Sir Keir told the Commons: “I did ask him, and I did not accept his explanation. That is why I sacked him.”
But friends of the former permanent under-secretary have hit back, telling The Independent “no question was asked”.
A source close to Sir Olly told The Independent: “The prime minister told MPs in the House that he had asked Olly Robbins the question about why he did not share the vetting conclusions with him.
“This is not the case. The timeline is that the prime minister found out Tuesday evening, the first Olly found out was Wednesday morning.
Sir Olly Robbins appearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday (House of Commons/UK Parliament)
“A telephone conversation did take place, but it was the prime minister telling Olly that he was disgusted and telling him he was sacked. He did not ask Olly for an explanation.”
They noted that Sir Olly refused to confirm the prime minister’s version of events when he was questioned by Tory MP Aphra Brandreth during his grilling on his role in the vetting scandal in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday. Instead, he implied that a legal claim could follow.
When the claims were put to No 10, Downing Street said the PM “stood by these words”, but declined to answer questions about whether notes were taken or if anybody else was present on the call.
Downing Street sources added that Sir Olly was asked to provide an account ahead of the call with the prime minister, during which he was sacked.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the “whole thing stinks” and suggested that if the claims are true, then the PM would have misled MPs.
She told The Independent: “It is now obvious to everyone that Olly Robbins was just the latest person sacked by Starmer to save the prime minister’s own skin. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Robbins was never asked for an explanation by the PM, because, really, Starmer was just looking for someone to carry the can for his own decision.
“On Monday, the prime minister said he had received an explanation from Robbins, so this would be yet another thing Starmer is misleading us about. The whole thing stinks.”
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Keir Starmer was under pressure at PMQs on Wednesday (House of Commons)
Following reports that he has employed lawyers to bring a legal claim over his sacking, Sir Olly told MPs on Tuesday: “I'm in an unknown territory, honestly, for me, personally, about the HR position I am in and what this means for my family. I must remain quiet on that until my advisers have told me what the appropriate thing to do is about it all.”
Ms Brandreth, who had asked him about what discussions took place before his sacking, told the committee: “I asked the question because it appeared to me that [the] PM’s view and Sir Oliver Robbins’ view of events was very different... It seems that the PM, who cares so much about the process, should have asked Sir Oliver quite detailed questions in order to form a view.”
A frontpage story by The Independent from September, revealing concerns that Lord Mandelson had failed vetting, has already been used to question Sir Keir’s version of events after he claimed that he and Downing Street only found out about the issue last week.
Jonathan Brash became the first Labour MP to demand that he quits after the latest revelation. Asked if Sir Keir should go, he replied, “Yeah,” adding he was “fed up to the back teeth of this psychodrama in Westminster”.
Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister tried to draw a line under the scandal, telling MPs during Prime Minister’s Questions that Sir Olly’s testimony to the committee “puts to bed all the allegations levelled at me” after claims that he misled parliament.
He said: “Yesterday, Sir Olly Robbins was asked if he shared that decision with me, No 10 or any other ministers. He gave a clear answer: no. That puts to bed all the allegations levelled at me by those opposite in relation to dishonesty.
“Last week, they were all saying that it must have been shared with me. Sir Olly was very clear yesterday; it was not. I believe not sharing it was a serious error of judgement.
Conservatives leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Starmer to quit as PM (House of Commons)
“That information should have been shared with me and other ministers, and if it had have been, Mandelson would not have been committed to post.”
Under grilling from Ms Badenoch and other MPs, Sir Keir, however, did admit that No 10 had looked to find an ambassadorial role for Matthew Doyle, ahead of sacking him as his director of communications.
The prime minister said there were “often conversations about other roles” when staff leave jobs “in any organisation”, but “nothing came of” the discussions about a foreign posting for Lord Doyle.
This has caused further embarrassment because the peer has since been suspended by Labour because of his close relationship with a convicted paedophile in a scandal which has echoes of Mandelson’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Ms Badenoch said: “This is a joke. The prime minister promised them probity. What he has given them is cronyism and an old boys’ club, where Matthew Doyle is being proposed as an ambassador. It is ridiculous.
“We all heard Sir Olly Robbins’ testimony yesterday. The head of the Foreign Office was sacked for the prime minister’s own failings.”
And the issue is not going away, with Sir Keir’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, summoned to give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee next week, hours before parliament is prorogued ahead of the King’s speech on 13 May.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
