By Elizabeth Piper, Sarah Young and Sam Tabahriti
LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) – A former top foreign ministry official said on Tuesday he had faced “constant pressure” from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office to speed up the process to install his pick as U.S. ambassador, deepening a row that threatens the British leader.
A war of words over who should ultimately take the blame for appointing Labour veteran Peter Mandelson to Britain’s highest diplomatic post despite his past history and known ties to late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has piled pressure on Starmer, prompting calls by critics for him to quit.
Starmer has said he was “wrong” to appoint Mandelson to the role and has expressed regret, but on Monday put the blame firmly on officials for failing to tell him that a security vetting body had advised against his appointment – something, he added, would have stopped him from employing the new ambassador.
On Tuesday, it was the turn of Olly Robbins, who was sacked late on Thursday after Starmer and foreign minister Yvette Cooper said they had lost confidence in him, to mount his defence. He was quick to turn the focus on Starmer’s office.
ROBBINS – WAS UNDER ‘CONSTANT PRESSURE’ OVER APPOINTMENT
“I walked into a situation in which there was already a very, very strong expectation … that he needed to be in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible,” Robbins told a parliamentary committee.
“I think throughout January (2025), honestly, my office, the foreign secretary’s office, were under constant pressure,” Robbins said. “There was an atmosphere of constant chasing,” he said, describing “very frequent phone calls” from the private office of Starmer’s Number 10 Downing Street.
He said the vetting body had advised the appointment was a borderline case and they were leaning against granting clearance – a message Starmer says his government never received.
Robbins’ words are likely to increase the pressure on Starmer, who after winning the largest majority in modern history for Labour at a national election in 2024 is facing new calls to step down over a scandal which has run for months.
Labour lawmakers have said there would not be an immediate move to oust Starmer over the scandal, especially as the party is expected to suffer big losses in local elections in England and regional votes in Wales and Scotland in just over two weeks.
But the return of the focus on Starmer’s Downing Street operation will do little to appease those lawmakers who have repeatedly raised concerns over its operation, criticising what some call a bunker mentality and lack of access.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, additional reporting by Sarah Young, Sam Tabahriti, Muvija M, editing by Kate Holton)
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