Olly Robbins refused to give Mandelson vetting summary to Cabinet Office, says Cat Little

The Foreign Office refused to hand over a summary of Peter Mandelson’s security vetting to the civil servant tasked with compiling documents detailing his appointment as ambassador to the US, she has told a Commons committee.Cat Little, the lead official in the Cabinet Office, had to instead get the document directly from UK Security Vetting (UKSV) after Olly Robbins, the subsequently-sacked Foreign Office head, refused to provide it.Giving evidence to the foreign affairs committee, Little also said she had not yet been able to track down a formal record of Keir Starmer approving Mandelson’s appointment as part of her department’s response to a Commons motion forcing the release of documents linked to the process. She said such a document would normally exist.But she supported the prime minister’s insistence that normal processes were followed in the appointment, despite UKSV initially refusing clearance for vetting, which was overruled by Robbins, who gave evidence to the same committee on Tuesday

Cat Little’s evidence to MPs is destined for civil service textbooks | John Crace

Here we go again. Some of the public may have had enough of the Peter Mandelson scandal by now, and would rather the focus returned to things such as the Iran war and the cost of living crisis. But Westminster has barely started on Mandy. Can’t get enough of him. This one will run and run

Former Labour MP calls for Starmer to face Commons committee over Mandelson vetting

A former Labour MP has joined opposition parties calling for Keir Starmer to face a Commons committee to examine whether the prime minister misled parliament as the government’s crisis surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington continues.Karl Turner, who lost the Labour whip last month after making a series of interventions criticising Starmer and No 10, has written to the speaker of the Commons urging him to refer Starmer to the privileges committee, the same body that found Boris Johnson had lied in the Commons over the lockdown parties scandal.In a letter to the speaker posted on X, which has since been deleted, he wrote that he was raising a “matter of serious concern regarding the conduct” of Starmer during prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.Turner, who now sits as an independent MP, said it was “clear that the prime minister’s characterisation of that evidence is, at best, inaccurate and, at worst, misleading to the House”.In the X post accompanying the letter, Turner said: “Let me be clear, I’m not accusing the PM of deliberately misleading the House of Commons

In Peter Mandelson evidence, Cat Little had the best weapon: an audit trail

Seen through the Westminster bubble, the Peter Mandelson vetting affair looks like an age-old conflict pitting ministers against mandarins. Yet the latest top civil servant to testify to parliament over what some are now calling “Mandygate” gave an intriguing account that suggested it has never been as simple as that.Cat Little, the top civil servant at the Cabinet Office, did not put it in these terms, but what she revealed was an extraordinary dispute between the country’s most senior civil servants.Little cut a very different figure to Olly Robbins, her recently departed counterpart at the Foreign Office, who gave evidence to the foreign affairs select committee two days earlier.Whereas Robbins exuded civil service finesse and ease, and was perhaps somewhat freed by no longer being in post, Little at times looked genuinely pained at the situation in which she found herself: divulging the kind of facts that the British national security state would prefer remain under lock and key

Five things we learned from Cat Little’s evidence to MPs about the Mandelson saga

In more than 90 minutes of evidence to the foreign affairs select committee about the Peter Mandelson scandal, Cat Little, the head civil servant in the Cabinet Office, was low key and often cautious.But she did reveal several pieces of new information – or at times information different from that given to the same committee by Olly Robbins, the former permanent undersecretary at the Foreign Office.Little said her then Foreign Office counterpart had resisted sending her a summary of why Mandelson was initially refused vetting clearance, which she sought as part of her efforts to gather all relevant documents in line with a Commons “humble address” motion.“At the time, it was made clear to me that that information would not be forthcoming,” Little said. She thus “took the very unusual judgment” to ask UK Security Vetting (UKSV), which sits within the Cabinet Office, to provide it directly

‘This is not the country I moved to’: the British Indians showing support for Nigel Farage

Savitha Prakash, an NHS doctor living in the London borough of Harrow, believes there are similarities between the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. “He’s [Modi] one of those people, like Nigel, he walks the talk. He made [a] difference to the country,” said Prakash, who chairs Reform UK’s branch in Harrow.In particular, the 47-year-old said Farage and Modi – who have each been accused by their critics of scapegoating marginalised communities – were focused on putting the needs of the majority first.“There was a time before [Modi] came into power that minority appeasement was normal,” she said

Mapped: the elections that could deliver ‘unprecedented’ losses for Labour

Labour is on track for its worst local election performance, data analysed by the Guardian shows, in a blow that will pile further pressure on Keir Starmer’s leadership.Barring a drastic change in fortunes, Labour’s vote-share could fall to historic lows across elections for councils in England and devolved parliaments in Wales and Scotland on 7 May, with big gains for Reform, the Greens and nationalist parties, according to recent polling.The collapse in support is particularly existential in the race for the Welsh parliament, the Senedd, which Labour has dominated since its creation in 1999.Polling shows Labour’s vote share falling by more than half in Wales, enough to push the party into third place, with Reform and Plaid Cymru vying for first.Labour’s long-term decline in Scotland is expected to continue, with the Scottish National party likely to remain in power in Holyrood and Reform headed for second place

Ian Collard: the Foreign Office insider who may be key to Mandelson scandal

His name was only mentioned twice – and the meeting he had with Olly Robbins may have only lasted 10 minutes.But Ian Collard is a central – and perhaps the key – figure in the scandal over how Peter Mandelson ended up receiving the security clearance to become Britain’s ambassador in Washington.According to Robbins’s evidence to the foreign affairs committee on Tuesday, it was Collard, head of the estates, security and network directorate in the Foreign Office, who gave him an oral briefing on 29 January 2025.Robbins explained Collard had been having a “live dialogue” about Mandelson with the separate UK Security Vetting (UKSV) team, based in the Cabinet Office.Collard had then asked to speak to Robbins for what turned out to be a critical meeting: it concluded with Mandelson being granted vetting clearance

Divisions emerge in Keir Starmer’s cabinet over his sacking of Olly Robbins

Keir Starmer is looking increasingly isolated over his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal with divisions emerging in cabinet over his decision to sack the Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins.On another difficult day for the prime minister, the Guardian learned of concerns around the cabinet table, a senior minister refused to say the dismissal was fair and several mandarins called for him to be reinstated. One Labour MP called on Starmer to quit.The scrutiny will continue on Thursday as MPs grill Cat Little, the permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, over the decision to install Mandelson as Washington ambassador contrary to the advice of vetting officials.Some senior Labour MPs say the prime minister is now living on borrowed time as he continues to come under fire over his decision to appoint the former Labour peer