Official sacked by Starmer says No 10 attitude to vetting "dismissive"

Former senior official Sir Olly Robbins has accused Downing Street of taking a "dismissive attitude" to vetting during Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US. Sir Olly was sacked as Foreign Office boss last week after it emerged he had cleared Lord Mandelson to take up the role despite officials raising security concerns, without telling Sir Keir Starmer. Also tonight, President Trump says he's extending a ceasefire with Iran, until negotiations conclude - but will continue to blockade Iranian ports. And London pays tribute to the Cuban Queen of Salsa.

You can listen to Official sacked by Starmer says No 10 attitude to vetting "dismissive" online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Official sacked by Starmer says No 10 attitude to vetting "dismissive" is an episode from The World Tonight by BBC.

This episode is 38:08 long.

This episode was published on Apr 21, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The World Tonight when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.