No 10 had ‘dismissive attitude’ to Mandelson vetting, says ex-official

Sir Olly said his department faced “constant pressure” from Downing Street to formally approve Lord Mandelson’s appointment, with a “strong expectation” the former cabinet minister needed to be “in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible”.

Having only started in the role two weeks before security clearance was granted, Sir Olly said his predecessor had briefed him that Downing Street felt vetting “might be unnecessary” for someone of Mandelson’s status.

“A position taken from the Cabinet Office was that there was no need to vet Mandelson,” he told the MPs.

“He was a member of the House of Lords, he was a privy councillor, the risks attending his appointment were well known, and had been made clear to the prime minister before appointment,” he added.

“In the end the FCDO insisted and put its foot down, I understand my predecessor had to be very firm in person.”

Although he declined to name anyone making these calls, Sir Olly said there was clearly a “dismissive approach” to the process but he was “confident that we were handling it well” and had not “bowed to pressure”.

Sir Olly told MPs that the concerns flagged by UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the government agency that did Lord Mandelson’s vetting, did not relate to his previous relationship with Epstein, but did not say what they were about.

Sir Olly insisted that the Foreign Office had acted properly when approving the clearance.

He said: “I was briefed that UKSV considered Mandelson a borderline case and that they were leaning towards recommending that clearance be denied, but that the Foreign Office’s security department assessed that the risks identified as of highest concern by UKSV could be managed and/or mitigated.

“I was told that UKSV acknowledged, I don’t know in what way, but acknowledged that the Foreign Office might wish to grant clearance with appropriate risk management.”

Sir Olly also told MPs: