A key figure in the Lord Mandelson vetting row has said he felt under pressure from No 10 over the former Labour grandee’s security checks. Foreign Office official Ian Collard said he “felt pressure to deliver a rapid outcome” to the former Labour grandee’s clearance for the US ambassador role.
But this did not influence his professional judgement, the department said in a letter to the Foreign Affairs Committee. It comes as Sir Keir Starmer faces intense scrutiny after it emerged Lord Mandelson was appointed to the plum Washington job despite failing security checks.
The Prime Minister has been accused of misleading MPs by saying that “full due process” was followed.
The Foreign Office, under then top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins, cleared the peer despite red flags being raised.
Sir Keir has also faced questions for telling MPs that “no pressure existed whatsoever in relation to this case”.
Sir Olly, who was sacked by the PM for not disclosing the security concerns to ministers, told MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee last week that “my office and the Foreign Secretary’s office were under constant pressure” about the appointment in January 2025.
Sir Keir told The Sunday Times he was not talking about the “everyday pressure of government” but the suggestion of specific pressure on Sir Olly to grant Lord Mandelson’s developed vetting status.
He added: “[Sir Olly] was really clear in his mind that wasn’t pressure that was put on him. And he also goes on to say that none of this impacted his decision.”
Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Committee is due to hear from Sir Keir’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who resigned in February amid the furore.