Olly Robbins reaches settlement with government after sacking over Mandelson vetting

Sir Olly Robbins has reached an out-of-court settlement with the government after his dismissal as the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office over the vetting of Lord Mandelson, BBC.

Robbins was dismissed in April by the then Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, after Lord Mandelson was granted security clearance for the role of UK ambassador to the United States despite concerns raised by vetting officials.

The case centred on how that clearance was granted. Lord Mandelson was announced as ambassador in December 2024 before in-depth vetting had been carried out. He formally took up the post in February 2025 after clearance was granted, then was sacked seven months later after further information emerged about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Robbins was dismissed after a Guardian report that clearance had been granted despite concerns from vetting officials. Sir Keir told MPs in April that he had asked Robbins for an explanation of why clearance was granted and had dismissed him because he did not accept it.

Robbins gave a different account to MPs. He said he had not seen documentation from UK Security Vetting containing its assessment of Lord Mandelson. He said he was given an oral briefing in which he was told the agency considered Mandelson a "borderline case" but the Foreign Office could grant clearance with "appropriate risk management".

Robbins was represented in legal action over his dismissal by the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants. The union said he had been made a "scapegoat" to "mask the misjudgement" of Sir Keir Starmer.

The government said it had reached a settlement with Sir Oliver following his dismissal and would not comment further on HR matters. The amount received has not been made public. Before the settlement, Robbins had sought a judicial review, a court process for challenging a public decision.

Robbins was appointed to lead the Foreign Office in early 2025. He had previously been the government's lead official during Brexit negotiations with the EU.