Mon, July 13, 2026 at 9:52 AM UTC
The former top Foreign Office civil servant who was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer over the Peter Mandelson scandal has launched a legal challenge.
Sir Olly Robbins was blamed by the prime minister for failing to tell him Lord Mandelson had not passed vetting to become Britain’s ambassador to the US.
In a statement on Monday, his union confirmed he had requested a Judicial Review of his dismissal as permanent under-secretary of the FCDO.
Sir Olly said: “I bring this action reluctantly. It would have been unnecessary if the prime minister had simply apologised for his mistake and made amends for the distress and cost it has caused me and my family.
“Instead, I now have to ask the Courts to determine that the prime minister’s decisions were unlawful, unreasonable and to quash them.”
Sir Olly Robbins was blamed by the prime minister failing to tell him Lord Mandelson had not passed vetting for the role of ambassador to the US. (Getty)
In his submission to the court, Sir Olly argues that there “was no fair procedure” involved in his dismissal, and that the reasons given for being sacked were “irrational”,
He also claimed that the prime minister “has no statutory authority to dismiss the head of the diplomatic service”.
The FDA union called on Sir Keir to admit sacking Sir Olly was a mistake, and claimed the firing was “based on a grievous misunderstanding of how the National Security Vetting (NSV) system worked and a rash response to a media story”.
More follows on this breaking news story…