Downing

Pressure from Downing Street to install Peter Mandelson in Washington was relentless, with security concerns seemingly treated as an obstacle to be pushed aside, a dismissed senior official told MPs today. Olly Robbins, until last week the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, said Keir Starmer's team showed a "dismissive attitude" toward the security vetting process for the government's choice of ambassador to the United States. He appeared before a parliamentary watchdog committee as the prime minister continued…