It is “inconceivable” that Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy were not told about Peter Mandelson failing the security vetting process for the role of US ambassador, a former foreign secretary has claimed, amid growing accusations that the prime minister scapegoated the head of the Foreign Office to save himself.
Describing his own recent experience, Sir James Cleverly, who was foreign secretary from 2022 to 2023, said: “I cannot envisage a universe where someone senior in the Foreign Office wouldn’t have sat down with the foreign secretary and said something to warn about this.”
It comes as former civil servants claim that the sacked permanent secretary to the Foreign Office Sir Olly Robbins was “thrown under a bus”.
Sir Keir has claimed he only discovered that Mandelson failed vetting last week, despite The Independent telling Downing Street and running a story on the revelation in September last year.
The prime minister said it was “staggering” and “unforgivable” that he had not been told earlier, adding he was “furious”. He claimed Downing Street and all his ministers were kept in the dark.
Sir Olly is widely expected to mount a staunch defence of his decision to approve Mandelson’s appointment at a hearing of the foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday, in what has been dubbed a “judgment day” for Sir Keir, with former colleagues expecting him to emphasise that the appointment was a ministerial decision pushed through by Downing Street.
As outrage grows over the scandal around Mandelson’s appointment and the prime minister’s claims he did not know of the problems involved, fresh doubts are being cast on his version of events.
Questions have been raised about Sir Keir’s claim, made in the Commons in February, that Downing Street was not aware Mandelson had failed security vetting.
Lord Simon McDonald, ex-permanent secretary in the Foreign Office, told Radio 4’s Today programme that Sir Olly had been “thrown under a bus” and described him as a scalp to save the prime minister.
He warned: “I think this is the biggest crisis in the diplomatic service since I joined it in 1982.”
Speaking for The Independent’s In The Room podcast, former deputy cabinet secretary to the Cabinet Office Helen McNamara criticised the prime minister for axing Sir Olly, calling it “reactive” and echoing the analogy of being thrown under a bus.
Other senior former colleagues of Sir Olly have suggested that what he is accused of is “completely out of character”.
With recent experience of making highly sensitive diplomatic appointments as foreign secretary, Sir James Cleverly said it was “just not credible” that neither Sir Keir nor the then foreign secretary now deputy prime minister David Lammy did not know.
He said: “It is just inconceivable that Olly Robbins would have sat on this information knowing that it would eventually blow up.
“We are being asked to believe that Olly Robbins was sitting there thinking, ‘I actually know Mandelson didn’t get through vetting, I probably should tell the prime minister that before he embarrasses himself further’.”
He went on: “That is just not credible, an idea that absolutely nobody read The Independent’s piece in September – that seems at odds with what Ollie Robbins has already told us.
“The only thing that I can think is that Olly doesn’t have anything in writing to show he told anyone.”
Pointing to a letter by Sir Olly in July last year to shadow Tory minister Richard Holden where he stated Mandelson “was directly appointed by ministers”, Sir James suggested that the sacked senior mandarin “has left a trail of crumbs back to who was really responsible”.
He said normally with diplomatic roles the jobs would go to career diplomats already vetted, but with political appointments “the foreign secretary is told firmly that is on him and is warned of the risks”.
Sir James added: “I had this with two political appointments I tried to make which were much more minor than the ambassador to the United States.
“They make it very, very clear you personally are importing a whole load of risk.”
He added: “This is why I think David Lammy may have even more problems than Keir Starmer.”
When it came to any problems raised, he added: “Of course I would relay that to the prime minister, especially in a case like this where the appointment was being driven by Downing Street.”
It is known from papers already released that Sir Philip Barton expressed concerns about the appointment before he quit early as permanent secretary to the FCDO.
Other former top cabinet ministers and civil servants have also privately agreed with Sir James’s assessment, noting that such briefings take place in STRAP rooms (secure and secret) to the prime minister and other senior cabinet ministers.
One former senior civil servant also pointed to a X post by Dominic Cummings describing it as “completely accurate” where he attacked claims being made about the PM not being briefed.
Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff said: “The PM is often told by officials details from vetting, leak inquiries, investigations by intel agencies etc.
“This is because the PM in our constitution is often the only constitutional authority deemed able to make a political judgement about things including risk assessments of appointments.”
Sir James’s doubts come amid revelations that new cabinet secretary Dame Antonia Romeo, the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office Cat Little, and government lawyers were all aware of the problem in March this year.
A source close to the deputy prime minister noted: “It’s a bit of an odd attack from Cleverly given all sides in this have made it clear ministers weren’t told.”
The Independent has approached Downing Street and Mr Lammy’s office for comment.
