Olly Robbins, the former head of the Foreign Office sacked by Keir Starmer over his role in vetting Peter Mandelson, has received a six-figure payout from the government over his dismissal. Robbins had applied to the high court for a judicial review of the prime minister’s decision to remove him as the top civil servant at the Foreign Office after he was dismissed in April. He was removed from his post by Starmer after the Guardian’s disclosure that he had overturned a recommendation from UK Security Vetting (UKSV) to deny clearance for Mandelson.
In a statement on Friday, Robbins said he was “grateful for all the support and good wishes from former colleagues, friends and strangers, which have helped me and my family during this difficult time”. He added: “I want to thank the FDA [union] for their assistance in reaching this settlement and I am looking forward to moving on to the next chapter of my life.” Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA, which represents senior civil servants, said: “This settlement may bring an end to the judicial review proceedings, but this whole unprecedented affair has damaged the bond of trust between civil servants and ministers, which is essential to the effective running of government. At the time of his dismissal, Downing Street said Robbins had lost the confidence of Starmer and Yvette Cooper, then foreign secretary, due to his handling of the vetting of Mandelson, who was sacked over the extent of his links to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Guardian later revealed that Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel had been among the concerns raised by UKSV when it concluded he should be denied clearance. His relationship with Epstein was not among the reasons. Robbins’ legal submission had made the case that Starmer had no statutory authority to dismiss him as the head of the diplomatic service, and that there had been “no fair procedure” and “no process at all” in the dismissal.
It also said Robbins had been given “irrational” reasons for being fired. There had been strong support for Robbins within Whitehall, with senior civil servants said to believe he had in effect been sacked for doing what No 10 wanted by swiftly passing Mandelson through vetting, and that the focus should instead have been on the prime minister’s initial decision. The Commons foreign affairs select committee has previously said that Robbins believed he was “delivering the outcome that was wanted” and concluded that his dismissal “seems to have been taken without full due process and the establishment of the facts”.
Questions remain about the defence Robbins mounted, both of his own actions and the system through which the national security establishment vets people, and the lack of mitigation put in place to get around the security concerns. The Foreign Office refused to hand over a summary of Mandelson’s security vetting to the official tasked with compiling documents detailing his appointment as ambassador to the US, in response to a Commons motion forcing the release of documents linked to the process.
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