Olly Robbins launches legal challenge to dismissal as Foreign Office chief by Keir Starmer

Olly Robbins, the former Foreign Office chief sacked by Keir Starmer over the Peter Mandelson security vetting scandal, has submitted a legal challenge over his dismissal.

Robbins was requesting a judicial review after he was removed as the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, the FDA Union representing him said in a statement.

His submission makes the case that Starmer had no statutory authority to dismiss him as the head of the diplomatic service, and that there was “no fair procedure” and “no process at all” in the dismissal.

It also says Robbins was given “irrational” reasons for being fired.

Robbins said: “I bring this action reluctantly. It would have been unnecessary if the prime minister had simply apologised for his mistake and made amends for the distress and cost it has caused me and my family.

“Instead, I now have to ask the courts to determine that the prime minister’s decisions were unlawful, unreasonable and to quash them.”

More details soon …