Olly Robbins puts Keir Starmer's coat on an even shooglier peg
The former civil servant’s competent performance raised further questions about why the PM had thrown him under the bus
Monday’s session in the House of Commons went relatively OK for the Prime Minister.
His MPs showed little support and he faced difficult questions, but Sir Keir Starmer was able to put on his lawyer hat and point the finger at others.
But Tuesday morning’s session, where the sacked senior civil servant Sir Olly Robbins gave evidence at the Foreign Affairs Committee, was another story.
Sir Olly said there was a “dismissive approach” towards Peter Mandelson’s security vetting from No 10 with an “atmosphere of pressure” to get the appointment through.
But he also delivered a bombshell. Downing Street had wanted to give Sir Keir’s former head of communications Matthew Doyle an ambassador role.
Lord Doyle was stripped of the Labour whip earlier this year after it emerged he had campaigned for a Scottish sex offender. He was given a peerage before having the whip withdrawn.
It seems bizarre and trigger-happy from the Prime Minister to have sacked Sir Olly.
The former civil servant gave a very good account of himself during the two and a half hour at the committee. He showed he was across the detail but also showed that he wouldn’t back down.
When uber-loyal Labour MP Uma Kumaran hit him with some pro-government questions, Sir Olly did not shy away and stood his ground.
He said he did not “fully understand” why he had been given the bullet and that he was “desperately, desperately sad about it”. He only started in the job in January 2025.
Obviously the Prime Minister wanted to direct the blame away from himself, so he decided Sir Olly’s head had to roll.
Is this what we expected from a Labour leader who pledged to bring “decency” back to public office?
Before the election Sir Keir portrayed himself as “Mr Rules”.
The chaos of parties in Downing Street, the mini-budget and several Tory prime ministers was meant to be over.
This has proven not to be the case, with the Labour Government not managing a single fortnight without some drama.
And this time round, Sir Keir was more than happy to throw Sir Olly under the bus as a means of deflection.
It was not the civil servant who took the huge risk of hiring Peter Mandelson. In fact, he was not even in the Foreign Office when the decision was made.
And he is not the first casualty who has suffered because of the prince of darkness’ short shift in Washington.
Morgan McSweeney may have played a big part in Lord Mandelson’s appointment, but the former Downing Street chief of staff was just another fall guy for the PM.
The perception among many voters two years ago was that Sir Keir was boring but that he was somewhat honourable and potentially even a good person.
There cannot be many who still think that after this sorry episode.
The Prime Minister may well go on. The elections in two weeks’ time will be brutal.
Labour is likely to pass up its best chance to oust the SNP in well over a decade. It will almost definitely lose power in Wales for the first time and thousands of its councillors will be ousted.
No senior Labour figure - at the moment - seems ready to capitalise on this and take over.
But every day proves more damaging and draws the end of his reign closer.
Things could get worse: Sir Olly might take the government to a tribunal for wrongful dismissal.
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