Sacked civil servant acknowledges ‘debate’ about release of documents after question about alleged ‘cover-up’
Olly Robbins responded to a question about an alleged “cover-up” on Tuesday by confirming that government officials had considered withholding Peter Mandelson’s secretive vetting documents from parliament.
Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer as the Foreign Office’s top civil servant last week, appeared to confirm a report in the Guardian that senior officials were debating whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that revealed the vetting agency did not believe Mandelson should get clearance.
Robbins was asked by Alan Gemmell, a Labour MP, about whether officials had resisted sharing Mandelson’s vetting file “potentially as part of some cover-up” after the Cabinet Office obtained the document in late March this year.
Robbins did not address the cover-up allegation but acknowledged there had been a “debate” among senior officials in multiple departments about whether or not the document needed to be shared with parliament.
